MEMOIRS 



LIFE AND WRITINGS 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 



LONDON: 
PRINTED BY COX AN D BAYLIS, GREAT QUEEN STREET. 



■■■V: ,'■■?. :?& 




Author of Sydney Biddulp, MuryatiadMe Discovery &x. 

TubWiecl ~by G-.kW WiiCaJar, March,, id 24 . 



MEMOIRS 

OF THE 

LIFE AND WRITINGS 

OF 

MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN, 

MOTHER OF THE LATE 
RIGHT HON. RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN, 

AND AUTHOR OF 

"SIDNEY BIDDULPH," " NOURJAHAD," AND " THE DISCOVERY." 

WITH 

REMARKS UPON A LATE LIFE OF 
THE RIGHT HON. R. B. SHERIDAN; 

ALSO 

CRITICISMS AND SELECTIONS 

FROM THE WORKS OF MRS. SHERIDAN; 

AND 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES OF HER FAMILY AND CONTEMPORARIES. 

Wlitt) a portrait 



BY HER GRAND-DAUGHTER, 

ALICIA LEFANU. 




LONDON: 

PRINTED FOR G. AND W. B. WHTTTAKER, 

AVE-MARIA-LANE. 

1824. 



?1?-U7f 

.6 tZy 



PREFACE. 



The Author of these Memoirs was en- 
couraged to the undertaking, by the advice 
and assistance of several intelligent friends ; 
and, principally, by the approbation of the 
Rev. Dr. Samuel Parr : whose regard for 
the virtues, and admiration of the talents 
of Mrs. Frances Sheridan, induced him 
kindly to extend to the Author the great 
advantage of his valuable observations 
and corrections, during the progress of the 
work. 

An account of the life of Mrs. Frances 
Sheridan would be incomplete, without 
some particulars relating to her family. 
The passages that place the conduct of the 
late Right Honourable Richard Brinsley 



VI PREFACE. 

Sheridan in a new and interesting point of 
view, are drawn from the letters of a lady 
of the most distinguished respectability ; 
and whose judgment of his character was 
formed upon the basis of a long intimacy 
and friendship. 

All the other anecdotes are derived 
from the Author's mother, Mrs. H. Lefanu, 
only surviving daughter of Thomas Sheri- 
dan, M.A., and of Mrs. Frances Sheridan, 
and sister of the late Right Honourable 
R. B. Sheridan. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Page 
Account of the Family of Mrs. Frances Sheridan.— Singular 

Education of Miss Chamberlaine.— Early Discouragement. 

— Anecdote of her Benevolence and Piety. — First Literary 

Attempt at the Age of Fifteen.— Eugenia and Adelaide. — 

Sermons. — Mr. Sheridan. — Defence of the Character of 

Thomas Sheridan, A.M.— Opinion of Dr. Parr. — Humorous 

Anecdote of Mr. Sheridan. — Singular Manner of Miss 

Chamberlaine's Introduction to him. — Fable of "The Owls." 

— Pamphlet in Prose. — Theatrical Disputes. — Fortunate 

Termination. — Miss Chamberlaine's Marriage 1 

CHAPTER II. 

Domestic Life of Mrs. Frances Sheridan. — Female Intimates. 
— Family of Mr. Sheridan.— Anecdote of the Banshi. — 
Ancient and Modern Irish Cookery. — Quilca.— The Painted 
Chamber. — Whimsical Anecdotes of Walter Chamberlaine. 
—Poem of " The Three Travellers." 31 

CHAPTER III. 
Birth of Mrs. Sheridan's Children.— Thomas.— Charles Fran- 
cis. — Richard Brinsley, and Alicia. — Second Theatrical 
Riot. — Contradiction of a passage in Mrs. Inchbald's Re- 
marks upon the Tragedy of Mahomet.— Unpublished Anec- 
dote of Digges. — Second Anecdote of Digges. — Birth of 



viii CONTENTS. 

P*ge 

Sackville Sheridan. — Anecdote of Lord Germaine.— Anec- 
dote of the Duke of Dorset 48 

CHAPTER IV. 
Mrs. Sheridan's Removal to England. — Return in 1766.— 
Original Anecdotes of Spranger Barry. — Mr. Samuel Whyte 
of Grafton-street. — Examination of a passage in Dr. Wat- 
kins's " Memoirs" relative to the late Right Hon. R. B. 
Sheridan. — Final Removal to England in 1 758.— Mrs. She- 
ridan's Circle of English Friends. — Samuel Richardson. — 
Birth of Mrs. Sheridan's youngest daughter Elizabeth. — 
Miss Pennington. — Anecdotes. —Mrs. Scott. — Sarah Field- 
ing. — Garrick. — Murphy. — Original Anecdote of Mrs. 
Barry.— -History of the Tragedy of " The Earl of Essex" 73 

CHAPTER V. 

Sidney Biddulph. — Successful in France. — Abbe Prevost. — 
Dramatized in France.— L' Habitant de la Guadaloupe. — 
Curious Note annexed to the French edition of Sidney 
Biddulph. — Different Judgments passed upon it. — Dr. 
Johnson, — Mrs. Barbauld. — Dr. Parr. — Mr. Fox. — Critique 
on Sidney Biddulph. — Smollett. — Sidney presented under a 
new point of view. — A Work of Humour as well as Pathos. 
— Selections from Sidney Biddulph 110 

CHAPTER VI. 

Mrs. Sheridan in London.— Anecdotes of Dr. Johnson.— 

Samuel Richardson. —Mrs. Peckhard.— Colloquial powers of 

Mrs. Sheridan.— Learning.— Description of the person of 

Mrs. Sheridan.— Anecdotes.— Habits of Self-control.— Love 



CONTENTS. ix 

Page 

of Truth. — Anecdote.— Second removal to Windsor. — Wind- 
sor Anecdotes. — " The Discovery." — Examination of a pas- 
sage in Dr. Watkins relative to Garrick and " The Discovery." 
— Friendly disposition of Mrs. Sheridan. — Mr. Armstrong — 
Humorous competition between " The Discovery" and " The 
Duenna." — Whimsical conduct of Mrs. Cholmondely. — 
Critique on the Comedy — 195 

CHAPTER VII. 

Portrait of Mrs. Cholmondely. — The original of several of 
Mrs. Brookes' Heroines. — Friendship for Mrs. Sheridan. — 
Anecdotes of Catherine Macauley. — Humorous Vanity of 
Mrs. Clive. — Anecdote —The Dupe. — Ode to Patience, — 
Mrs. Woffington's Phaedra. — Epigram on a Reply made to 
Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough — Affliction, an Apologue — 
Distinguished compliment paid to Mr. Sheridan, in Ireland. 
— Mr. Sheridan's opinion of the Female Sex. — Bath and 
Bristol. — Mrs. Sheridan becomes a Pupil of Mr. Linley's. — 
The Linley Family — Juvenile Anecdote of Thomas Linley. 
— Mr. Sheridan and Miss Hannah More. — Dangerous Ac- 
cident to Mrs. Sheridan — 'Edinburgh. — Mr. Sheridan ho- 
noured with the Freedom of the City. — Lady Maxwell, mo- 
ther to the Duchess of Gordon. — Removal to France 230 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Right Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan. — Anecdotes of Richard 
Brinsley at Harrow. — Journey of Mr. and Mrs. Sheridan 
in France. — Baptiste. — Paris — Hotel de Picardie.— Clairon. 
— Blois. — Whimsical inducement to Mr. Sheridan to settle 
there. — Story of Mademoiselle Hemin. — The Cottage of the 
Loire. — Correction of a Misconstruction in the " Memoirs 



x CONTENTS. 

Page 

of R. B. Sheridan ° — Madame Des Combes— Comic Anec- 
dotes. — Story of Poor Robin. — Respect shewn to Mr. She- 
ridan by the travelling English. — Friendliness of the French 
— Anecdote of Father Mark — Melancholy story of an 
English Lady. — Extraordinary Anecdote of another Lady. 
— Family of Montigny 251 

CHAPTER IX. 

Literary Occupations of Mrs. Sheridan resumed. — Critique on 
the Second Part of Sidney Biddulph — Singular Origin of 
Nourjahad — Miss Sophia Lee, Author of Canterbury Tales 
— " Trip to Bath." — Examination into the reports about that 
Comedy*— Mr. Sheridan obliged to go to Ireland. — Decline 
of Mrs. Sheridan's health. — Amiable disposition and resig- 
nation in her sufferings. — Religious bigotry of her attend- 
ants.— Trials of Mrs. Sheridan on her Death-bed.— Death. 
— Respect paid by the French to her remains 289 

CHAPTER X. 

Addition to the Memoirs of Mrs. Frances Sheridan. — Re- 
marks upon a passage in Dr. Watkins.— Mr. Thomas Sheri- 
dan and Dr. Johnson. — The late Marquis Townshend. — 
Garrick.— Changes in the public taste. — Boswell. — Original 
Anecdote of Lord Auchinleck. — Original Anecdote of Bos- 
well and His late Majesty George the Third. — The Man of 
Feeling.— Anecdote of Dr. Johnson.... 312 

CHAPTER XI. 

General Paoli. — Paoli and Napoleon Buonaparte.— Misrepre- 
sentation respecting the late Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan. — 
Louisa Bellenden Kerr. — Mr. Sheridan and Rasselas. — Do- 



CONTENTS. xi. 

Page 

mestic life of the elder Mr. Sheridan. — Mr. Sheridan's the- 
atrical respectability. — The Kildare-street club.— Manager 
Heaphy. — Anecdote of a beautiful young Actress. — Contra- 
diction of a saying imputed to the elder Mr. Sheridan.— 
Mrs. Vesey's Conversaziones.— Original Anecdote of Dr. 
Johnson. — Tributes to the merit of the elder Mr. Sheridan. 
— His hopes nearly being realized in Ireland. — Disappoint- 
ment. — Decease.— Refutation of the statement in the " Me- 
moirs of R. B. Sheridan," respecting the funeral of Mr. She- 
dan.— Mrs. Siddons , 336 

CHAPTER XII. 
Anecdotes of the Right Honourable Richard Brinsley Sheri- 
dan and his family. — Contradiction of a statement in Dr. 
Watkins's Memoirs. — Lady Margaret Fordyce the real hero- 
ine of "The Picture Varnished." — Miss Linley becomes 
Mrs. Elizabeth Sheridan. — The biographer of R. B. Sheridan 
misinformed respecting her. — The Royal Concert. — The 
Duenna.— Anecdote of Barry the Actor.— Examination into 
the mysterious reports circulated relative to the real author 
of the School for Scandal. — History of the School for Scan- 
dal. — Morality of the piece.— Contradiction of several mis- 
statements respecting the Linley Family. — Affecting death 
of Miss Maria Linley.— Contradiction of the statement 
relating to Mrs. Elizabeth Sheridan's death. — Interesting 
particulars of the late R. B. Sheridan. — Mr. Charles Francis 
Sheridan. — Conclusion ., 392 



MEMOIRS 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN 



CHAPTER I. 

Account of the Family of Mrs. Frances Sheridan — Singular 

Education of Miss Chamberlaine Early Discouragement. 

— Anecdote of her Benevolence and Piety. — First Lite- 
rary Attempt at the Age of Fifteen. — Eugenia and Ade- 
laide.— Sermons — Mr. Sheridan. — Defence of the Charac- 
ter of Thomas Sheridan, A.M. — Opinion of Dr. Parr. — 
Humorous Anecdote of Mr. Sheridan. — Singular Manner 
of Miss Chamberlaine's Introduction to him. — Fable of 
" The Owls." — Pamphlet in Prose.— Theatrical Disputes. 
— Fortunate Termination. — Miss Chamberlaine's Marriage. 

The life of Mrs. Frances Sheridan is in 
various respects more interesting than that of 
most literary women. 

As excelling in different modes of composi- 
tion, each of which is supposed to require a 



<Z M E M O I R S" OF 

peculiar talent; as uniting to uncommon powers 
of conversation, every domestic virtue that most 
endears and distinguishes a woman ; and as the 
mother of a man confessedly pre-eminent in 
dramatic wit and parliamentary eloquence ; she 
certainly deserves some memorial, fuller and 
more distinct than those brief or erroneous 
biographical notices, which alone have as yet 
appeared before the public. 

Frances Chamberlaine was born A.D. 1724. 
Her family was of English extraction, her 
grandfather, Sir Oliver Chamberlaine, being an 
English Baronet. Her father, Dr. Philip Cham- 
berlaine, was Prebend of Rathmichael, Diocese 
of Dublin,* Archdeacon of Glendalough, and 
Rector of St. Nicholas Without. f 

Dr. Chamberlaine married Miss Whyte, an 
English lady, who had three brothers : Captain 
Whyte, R.N., Colonel Whyte, and Solomon 
Whyte, Deputy Governor of the Tower. By 
this marriage Dr. Chamberlaine had five chil- 
dren. Walter, the eldest, was in the church, 

* Collated in 1713. + In Dublin. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. O 

and died unmarried and rather young ; the 
second son, Richard, was educated for a sur- 
geon, and was entered on board a man of war 
in that capacity ; Richard Chamberlaine mar- 
ried the daughter of his commander, Captain 
Pattison. By his marriage with this lady, who 
was related to Lord Hardwicke, he had no 
children. 

On the death of Solomon Whyte, Esq., his 
maternal uncle, Richard Chamberlaine, inhe- 
rited a considerable estate in the county of 
Longford, in Ireland ; and dying without chil- 
dren, this estate finally devolved upon his eldest 
nephew, Charles Francis Sheridan, as heir at 
law. 

William, the third son of Dr. Philip Cham- 
berlaine, was of the profession of the law, and 
died a judge in Jamaica. He married a lady of 
the name of Smyth, by whom he had three 
sons ; and one daughter, who is still living. 

The two daughters of Dr. Chamberlaine 
were, Anne, married to the Reverend John Fish, 
A.M., a clergyman of a highly respectable 
b 2 



4 MEMOIRS OF 

family in the county of Kildare ; and Frances, 
afterwards Mrs. Sheridan, the subject of these 
Memoirs. 

Her mother dying soon after her birth, Miss 
Chamberlaine from her earliest years, had to 
contend with disadvantages of education, which 
in a less ardent mind would have crushed every 
germ of literary talent. 

Dr. Chamberlaine was an admired preacher, 
and strict in the performance of all his cleri- 
cal duties. He was, at the same time, a great 
humourist, the strongest proof of which is, that 
he was with difficulty prevailed on to allow his 
daughter to learn to read; and to write, he 
affirmed to be perfectly superfluous in the edu- 
cation of a female. The Doctor considered 
the possession of this art, as tending to nothing 
but the multiplication of love-letters, or the 
scarcely less dangerous interchange of senti- 
ment in the confidential effusions of female 
correspondence. 

Happily for Miss Chamberlaine, she was 
blest with affectionate brothers, who vied with 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 



each other in averting the effects of her father's 
injudicious prohibitions. By her eldest brother, 
Walter, she was privately instructed in writing ; 
and finding in his sister an inquiring mind, 
which led her to look beyond the usual routine 
of female education, he proceeded to impart to 
her a knowledge of the Latin language : a cir- 
cumstance which she has pleasingly commemo- 
rated in the instructions given to his sister by 
Sir George, in her novel of " Memoirs of Miss 
Sidney Biddulph." 

By her brother Richard she was initiated into 
the science of botany : an acquisition which she 
chiefly confined to the purpose of benefiting the 
poor of her father's parish, to whose distresses 
and wants she liberally administered relief; 
and prescribed for them in such cases as did not 
go beyond her limited skill She at the same 
time evinced an enlightened and truly Christian 
zeal for their spiritual welfare ; of which one 
anecdote will furnish a sufficient proof, 

There was, among Dr. Chamberlaine's pa- 
rishioners, a poor creature who had been given 
b 3 



6 MEMOIRS OF 

up by his parents as a born idiot, and incapable 
of any instruction whatsoever. Frances, or 
" Miss Fanny," as the Rector's youngest 
daughter was usually styled, thought that, by 
care and judicious treatment, a ray of light 
might be communicated to the mind of this 
unfortunate being : and, influenced by that pa- 
tient and extensive charity which " hopeth all 
things," she undertook, herself, the task of his 
tuition. 

She succeeded in teaching him to read, and 
to repeat the Creed and Lord's Prayer: but, 
just as she flattered herself with having com- 
municated to his benighted mind a dawn of in- 
tellectual light, a strange and ludicrous ques- 
tion, put by him on a mysterious point of reli- 
gion, showed that he was utterly deficient in 
comprehension of what he had thus acquired 
by rote, and drew on Miss Chamberlaine much 
good-natured raillery from her brothers respect- 
ing the " surprising proficiency of her pupil." 
Not discouraged by this, she continued her in- 
structions ; and, by patience and perseverance, 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 7 

had, at length, the satisfaction of seeing the 
moral state of the unfortunate outcast in whom 
she had interested herself considerably amelio- 
rated ; of seeing him sensible of her kindness, 
and taking his place regularly every Sunday at 
church, in somewhat of the restored dignity of 
a rational being. 

At the early age of fifteen, her talent for 
literary composition evinced itself. Notwith- 
standing his aversion to writing, and writing 
ladies, Dr. Chamberlaine could not refuse his 
housekeeper paper to keep the house accounts, 
and a portion of this paper (ill-coloured and 
coarse, it is true) Miss Fanny thought it no 
robbery to appropriate to the far nobler purpose 
of writing a romance, in two volumes, entitled 
" Eugenia and Adelaide." This novel, which 
remained in MS. till published (after her de- 
cease, and without the author's name) by Dilly, 
displays unquestionable proofs of a fertile ima- 
gination and inventive skill ; indeed, the whole 
style and story may be said to breathe the fresh- 
ness of fifteen — the happy period at which the 

b 4 



O MEMOIRS OF 

novel was written. The plot, as the name im- 
ports, is a double one, containing two complete 
stories, each in its way interesting and attrac- 
tive. That of Eugenia is full of Spanish im- 
broglio, and highly susceptible of comic height- 
ening. It was, in fact, at a subsequent period, 
adapted for the stage in the form of a comic 
drama, by the author's eldest daughter, Mrs. 
Lefanu, of Dublin ; and was represented with 
success at the theatre of that metropolis. 

If the story of Eugenia is more animated and 
sprightly, that of Adelaide is more tender and 
pathetic. It possesses a deeper and more 
powerful interest, and is wound up with a de- 
gree of skill truly surprising in so young a 
writer. The episodical characters introduced 
evince still further the invention and resources 
she already possessed ; and some allusions to the 
historical events of the period with which she 
has connected her narrative, bear witness alike 
to the extent of her reading, and the accuracy 
of her discrimination. Dr. Chamberlaine's pre- 
judices against female authorship continuing in 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 



full force, this first literary sin was, of course, 
kept a profound secret from him. But, having 
succeeded, we may suppose, to her own satis- 
faction, in the composition of a romance, the 
ambition of our young authoress took a bolder 
flight, and, having a father and brother both in 
the church, the spirit of imitation impelled her 
next to try her powers in writing a sermon. 
In this attempt (so different from the preceding) 
she was also successful, and was induced, in 
consequence of this confirmed confidence in 
herself, to compose another. 

Neither of these manuscript sermons have I 
been able to procure ; but they were long in 
the possession of the family, and were reckoned 
to display considerable ability. 

Except the novel and the two sermons, I 
know of no literary productions of Mrs. Sheri- 
dan from her fifteenth to her one-and-twentieth 
year, between which time I venture to place 
them, not having the means of fixing the date 
more accurately. It was about that time Miss 
Chamberlaine resumed her pen in a very dif- 



10 MEMOIRS OF 

ferent manner, and with very different inten- 
tions. 

Her father having, some time previous to his 
decease, sunk into a state of mental imbecility, 
those hours that she could spare from necessary 
attention to him, were much more at Miss 
Chamberlaine's disposal than formerly. She 
now sometimes ventured with her brothers to a 
play, an amusement which she had never before 
had the opportunity of enjoying : Dr. Cham- 
berlaine's objections to the drama being equal 
to his prejudices against female literature. 

The impressions, therefore, w r hich the no- 
velty of the scene made on Miss Chamberlaine's 
heart and mind, were proportionably vivid ; 
and it was upon one of these public occasions 
that she first saw Mr. Sheridan, who, in con- 
junction with Garrick and Barry, furnished at 
that time to the lovers of the drama an intel- 
lectual treat of the highest description. 

Mr. Sheridan, who was not above twenty-five 
or twenty-six years of age, had just entered 
upon his career of Manager of the Dublin 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 11 

Theatre, with every advantage and every pre- 
possession in his favour. Born an Irishman, he 
had at the same time the advantage of receiving 
his early education at Westminster school, where 
he was the friend and contemporary of the Rev. 
Dr. Markham, afterwards Archbishop of York ; 
and it has been remembered by his school- fel- 
lows, that they were reckoned the two best 
scholars of their standing. From this learned 
seminary he was removed to the University of 
Dublin, where he was placed under the tuition 
of Dr. Clarke. His youth was spent as the 
associate and classfellow of most of the young 
nobility and gentry of the kingdom. He pur- 
sued his academical studies diligently, and took 
his first degree in trie year 1736. In 17«58, 
when his literary character had been established 
in England, Mr. Sheridan was honoured by the 
University of Oxford with the degree of Mas- 
ter of Arts ; and at Cambridge, March 16, 1759, 
he obtained the same distinction. He was not 
a scholar by profession, but his classical attain- 
ments were much respected by his learned 



12 MEMOIRSOF 

friend Dr. Robert Sumner, Master of Harrow 
School, and by the well-known Dr. Parr. 

With such qualifications, it is rather surpris- 
ing Mr. Sheridan should have made choice of 
the stage in preference to one of the learned 
professions. A circumstance (peculiar at the 
time to his father, Dr. Sheridan) might have had 
some influence in determining his son's inclina- 
tions in favour of the Drama. This was, the 
periodical representation of a Greek play, which 
it was customary for Dr. Sheridan to have per- 
formed by his head class, previous to their en- 
trance into the University. One of these pieces 
was the Hippolytus of Euripides. At other 
times the plays of Sophocles were acted. Dr. 
King, Archbishop of Dublin, was present at the 
representation of the Hippolytus of Euripides ; 
and on another occasion, the Lord Lieutenant 
honoured one of these exhibitions with his pre- 
sence. The knowledge that his father had 
countenanced such a custom, might have early 
impressed the mind of Mr. Sheridan with ideas 
of the antiquity and importance of the stage : 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 13 

but whatever ground there may be for this con- 
jecture, the fact is certain, that the excellent 
education Mr. Sheridan had received, the re 
spectability of his connexions, and his amiable 
private character, gave him an influence, both 
with the performers and the public, which it 
would have been impossible for a low-born ad- 
venturer in the dramatic line, or a stranger to 
the country, however great his merit, to have 
obtained. 

In the words of the historian of the stage, 
Mr. Sheridan " possessed a happy and agree- 
able manner of address towards those he wished 
to engage, which inspired them with a personal 
love for him. 

" As a performer, the excellence which he 
had attained at that early age, in a wide range 
both of comic and tragic characters, seemed to 
give the most advantageous promise of future 
perfection in his art. 

" In private life, when his labours blessed him 
with success, his greatest pleasure was in assist- 
ing his relatives and distrest friends." 



14 MEMOIRS OF 

Such is the character given of Mr. Sheridan 
by a contemporary (Benjamin Victor, who acted 
under Mr. Sheridan's management as trea^ 
surer to the Theatre), a man who from his situ- 
ation was eminently qualified to judge of his 
manners and disposition, yet who was so far 
from being influenced by any personal partiality, 
that he ingenuously relates many little bicker- 
ings and jealousies in which he indulged.* 

* In the " Memoirs of the Public and Private Life of the 
Right Honourable Richard Brinsley Sheridan, by John 
Watkins, LL.D," page 70, the following very different pic- 
ture is given of his father. 

" Mr. Sheridan was extremely opiniated and obstinate 
among his associates ; cold, reserved, and dictatorial to his 
dependants." 

In opposition to this statement, I am happy to adduce the 
luminous definition of his mental and moral qualities kindly 
furnished me by the Rev. Dr. Parr, who had frequent oppor- 
tunities of observing the real character of Mr. Sheridan's 
mind. 

" Mr. Sheridan never appeared to me opiniated or dicta- 
torial. He was whimsical, but not opiniated ; he was ani- 
mated, but not dictatorial." 

So far was he from indulging in the overbearing manners 

that 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 15 

The account of Mr. Sheridan's goodness of 
heart might be also confirmed by the recollec- 

that distinguished not only Johnson, but Baretti, and a 
school of literary men at that period, that though he en- 
joyed with the most exquisite relish the company of persons 
of talents and taste, no individual of an opposite descrip- 
tion had to fear a mortification in his society ; nor, whether 
he gave his opinion professionally or mingled in general con- 
versation, had female diffidence ever to apprehend a rough 
reproach or a brutal sally from his lips. 

As to the elder Mr. Sheridan's deportment towards his de- 
pendants at the theatre, the biographer, who, both for the 
moral character of the father, and the literary history of the 
son, seems to have attentively consulted the old newspapers, 
no doubt took up his ideas from some Dialogues published 
through that channel, very many years after Mr. Sheridan 
had given up the management ; but while he was still in the 
highest reputation as an actor whenever he performed in 
Dublin. These Dialogues, which bore the general title of 
" A View of Stephen's Green," attacked every remarkable 
character, and Mr. Sheridan pretty often among the rest. 
They gave a false, but ludicrous description of his "pedantic" 
deportment among the actors, representing him as address- 
ing them in Latin. They also described him as the tyrant 
of the green-room, where his nod was watched with trem- 
bling reverence, and where, upon his entrance, one actor 

hastened 



16 MEMOIRSOF 

tions of several descendants of those who had 
experienced it. Relations from whose gratitude 
and attachment he met with the most pleasing 
returns.* 

hastened to take his hat, another took his stick, another set 
a chair for him, and so forth. 

Mr. Sheridan, who never looked into this contemptible 
publication, long remained ignorant that he was himself a 
subject of frequent and unwarrantable attack ; and on some 
one's remarking (perhaps with a malicious intention) in his 
presence, that these « Dialogues" were really intolerable in 
their unsparing severity, Mr. Sheridan observed with a naivete 
that was quite characteristic, " Isn't it very extraordinary 
that they should never have brought me in ?" 

* This was particularly shown in the instance of his fa- 
ther's sister and her family ; reduced to unforeseen distress 
by a most afflicting accident, that closed in an untimely man- 
ner her husband's useful life. Yet in the " Memoirs of the 
Public and Private Life of the Right Honourable Richard 
Brinsley Sheridan," p. 44, it is said, " The widow of the 
doctor, on his death, removed to Dublin, where she lived in 
a very retired way many years, and died at an advanced 
age in mean circumstances." 

Is it credible that Mr. Sheridan, who was remarkable 
for the scrupulous discharge of his relative duties, and who 

was 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 17 

With the fair sex Mr. Sheridan was a dis- 
tinguished favourite, on account of the elegance 

was at that very time assisting to the utmost of his power a 
more distant relation, should leave his own mother to pine in 
want and obscurity? But the assertion is grounded on a 
total mistake. 

Mr. Sheridan's mother died before her husband, the doctor, 
whose house was kept till the time of his own decease by 
Miss Elizabeth Sheridan, his eldest daughter. The biogra- 
pher, probably, confused Mrs. Elizabeth Sheridan, Dr. She- 
ridan's wife, with Mrs. Eleanor Sheridan, wife to his second 
son Richard, who did survive her husband, and who died at 
a very advanced age. N 

Neither should we allow too hasty a credit to the impres- 
sions liable to be created by Dean Swift's character of Mrs. 
Elizabeth Sheridan, and by the name of " Xantippe," which 
he has somewhere bestowed on her. If the Dean had ever 
occasion to resent Mrs. Sheridan's ill-humour, it was con- 
siderably justified by the vexation the respectable mother of 
a family must have felt, on seeing her property lavished in en- 
tertaining one, who often, from his whimsical singularities, 
denied her the respect due to a woman of birth and fortune, 
and the mistress of the house at which he was hospitably re- 
ceived. Miss Elizabeth Macfodden brought her husband, the 
doctor, an estate in land valued at =£500 per annum, a con- 
siderable sum in those days ; so that the marriage was far 
from being in any respect disadvantageous to him. 

C 



18 MEMOIRS OF 

of the dramatic entertainments he had provided 
for them : but by none was he so enthusiasti- 
cally admired as by Miss Chamberlaine. Hav- 
ing obtained an introduction to the sisters of 
Mr. Sheridan, Miss Elizabeth Sheridan and Mrs. 
Sheen, the praises that she heard of him in the 
midst of his family, confirmed the prepossession 
that his appearance in public had first excited 
in her breast. It was his exemplary conduct 
as a son, a brother, and a friend, that riveted 
her esteem ; for nature never formed a purer 
mind than hers, nor education a more truly 
modest, diffident, and gentle character. Thus 
began this partiality, which, in contradiction to 
all the prejudices and all the precautions of 
her father, was destined to unite Miss Chamber- 
laine' s fate to that of a man connected with 
theatrical life, and to develope her talents for 
literature by an intercourse with one possessed 
of similar inclinations. 

It does not appear that she had ever had any 
personal interview with Mr. Sheridan, till an 
occasion presented itself which enabled her, 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 19 

without transgressing the bounds of propriety, 
to express the mingled regard and admiration 
which she felt for him. 

This was on the occasion of the memorable 
riot of January 1746, commonly called " Kelly's 
Riot," the particulars of which are too well 
known, to be noticed here by any thing more 
than a very brief recapitulation. 

This theatrical disturbance was occasioned 
by Mr. Sheridan's spirited resistance to an at- 
tempt made by a young Gal way gentleman to 
force his way behind the scenes, whither he 
pursued one of the actresses (the celebrated 
George Anne Bellamy) and so terrified her, that 
she was obliged to take refuge in her dressing- 
room, and could not again venture to appear 
on the stage. 

Nothing could be more temperate and mode- 
rate than the conduct held by Mr. Sheridan 
upon this occasion. But not so the manner in 
which Mr. Kelly (the name of the young gen- 
tleman) received it. After the play, he forced 
his way to the manager's dressing-room, and 

c 2 



20 MEMOIRS OF 

there attacked Mr. Sheridan with such ungen- 
tlemanlike language, as compelled him to exer- 
cise some degree of violence in his own de- 
fence. Inflamed with rage at his deserved dis- 
grace, Kelly immediately left the theatre for a 
club, where several of his friends were assem- 
bled, and related what had passed, in the man- 
ner that best favoured his own views. He de- 
clared (an assertion totally devoid of founda- 
tion) that Mr. Sheridan's servants held him 
while their master unmercifully beat him. This 
so greatly excited the indignation of his friends, 
that a powerful fighting party was formed, and 
the next day all persons were threatened with 
violence who dared to espouse the party of Mr. 
Sheridan. To such a height did they carry 
this spirit of vengeance, that some days after- 
wards, Mr. Sheridan, being to perform Horatio 
in the Fair Penitent, several letters, cards, and 
messages, were sent to him, warning him not to 
leave his house that evening, and to take par- 
ticular care to be well guarded even there. 
These friendly and well-meant admonitions, Mr. 



MRS, FRANCES SHERIDAN. 21 

Sheridan did not think it prudent to neglect ; 
and, in consequence, when the Galway gentle- 
men arrived at the theatre, they learnt, to their 
infinite mortification, that he was not to play 
that night. Incensed at thus missing their 
prey, they proceeded to the most extravagant 
outrages : attacking the green room, breaking 
open the dressing-rooms, and even thrusting 
their swords into all the chests and presses of 
the wardrobe, in order to feel, as they said, if 
Sheridan was not concealed there. Such con- 
duct, of course, increased the terror and ill-will 
with which they were beheld by all the sober 
part of the public ; and, among the members of 
the college to which Mr. Sheridan had formerly 
belonged, and the higher order of citizens, a 
party was formed, to protect Mr. Sheridan from 
the confederacy of Mr. Kelly and his adherents. 
The spirit thus excited soon spread from the 
city of Dublin throughout the whole kingdom. 
During the time this dispute lasted, it was the 
custom of those that were for and against Mr. 
Sheridan, to go about the streets provided with 

c 3 



22 MEMOIRS OF 

fire-arms, and apprehensions of the most serious 
nature were entertained, from the high state of 
irritation in the public mind. A paper war was 
also commenced, in the course of which it is 
said as many pamphlets were published, as 
would, if collected, make a large octavo vo- 
lume. 

The first blow was struck by a letter that ap- 
peared in Faulkner's Journal, Dublin, Jan. 25, 
1746. 

This letter was a justification and defence of 
the conduct and character of Mr. Sheridan, and 
ably traced his unimpeachable career, as well 
known to his countrymen, as a gentleman, 
a man of letters, and a man of honour. This 
was followed up by a poetical effusion from a 
different hand. It was published without a 
name, being the production of Miss Chamber- 
laine. Mr. Sheridan was highly complimented 
in it through the medium of a dramatic fable. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 23 

THE OWLS: 

A FABLE. 

Addressed to Mr. Sheridan, on his late Affair in the Theatre. 

Envy will Merit still pursue, 

As shade succeeds to light ; 
And though a shade obstructs the view, 

It proves the substance right. 

If Worth appears, and gets its due, 

(But oh ! how rare that gain !) 
The satyrs and the mimic crew 

Shall grin behind the scene. 

Some artifice shall find a way, 

Some secret whisper dwell ; 
But to defeat such arts, you say, 

The maxim is — do well. 

Now hear a tale, a moral too, 

Allow it poor, or pretty. 
The owls one day, (if Fame says true) 

Composed a sage committee. 

'Twas there resolved in cool debate, 

Each offering his true sense ; 
That Phoebus, source of light and heat, 

Was nothing but a nuisance. 
C 4 



24 MEMOIRS OF 

To whom the glorious lamp of day 

In mildest radiance spoke : — 
" Shall I withdraw my genial ray 

Because your vigil's broke? 

" Shall Nature's frame and Nature's laws 

By me be unattended, 
Because, forsooth, a noble cause ! 

An Owl or two's offended ! 

" O sons of gloom ! get brighter sense, 

More conscionably speak ! 
Why should my beams be less intense 

Because your eyes are weak ? 

" The fault is yours, if faults you see, 

The punishing be mine; 
And my complete revenge shall be, 

I still will rise and shine." 

These lines, in the commencement of which 
the author evidently had the well-known senti- 
ment of Pope in her memory, breathe the in- 
nocent enthusiasm of a youthful mind, ever 
prone to exaggerate the merits of the object it 
nas chosen, and they were successful in reach- 
ing the " Phoebus " of her verse. Miss Cham- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 25 

berlaine's next attempt was in prose ; and an 
anonymous pamphlet appeared from her pen, 
defending Mr, Sheridan's conduct with a vi- 
gour, elegance, and spirit, which could not fail 
of exciting his favourable attention towards the 
unknown author of it. The animosity of Mr. 
Sheridan's enemies, however, continued una- 
bated, and a party was formed to prevent his 
appearing in the character of Richard the 
Third. Finding themselves foiled by the spi- 
rited opposition of the citizens, the collegians, 
and, above all, the celebrated patriot and phy- 
sician Dr. Charles Lucas, they let the play pro- 
ceed in quiet that night, and left the theatre ; 
but it was only to form fresh plans, and breathe 
forth deeper vows of vengeance. To those who 
are only accustomed to the bloodless distur- 
bances of a London theatre, the comparatively 
harmless ebullitions even of an O. P. riot, the 
dangerous predicament in which an Irish manager 
was placed, would scarcely be credible, if there 
were not so many authentic documents to prove 
it. The Gal way men doomed Mr. Sheridan to 



26 MEMOIRS OF 

destruction. A horse was always in readiness, 
for his murderer to depart at a minute's warn- 
ing. Dr. Lucas was also marked out for death. 
Such was the situation of affairs, when Mr. 
Sheridan was once more called upon to brave 
this prejudiced and incensed portion of the 
public. He was to take a part in a charity 
play, which the performers in the Dublin 
Theatre annually gave ; and the governors, 
who were all persons of consequence, insisted 
upon their right to the benefit of this goodly 
custom. They sent the manager word, that 
they would take upon themselves to protect 
him from violence or injury in the performance 
of it; yet, notwithstanding the governors, 
appeared there according to promise, with their 
white wands of office, notwithstanding the pre- 
sence of above a hundred ladies of the first 
distinction, dressed in all the elegance of fa- 
shion, who, unable to obtain places in the pit 
and boxes, had, in order to assist and support 
the manager, accepted of accommodations on 
the stage, the clamour was so great that Mr. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. Tj 

Sheridan was obliged to withdraw without 
speaking ; and after the riot and confusion of 
this night, the theatre was shut up by order of 
the Master of the Revels, 

An appeal was made by both parties to the 
laws, and both parties were tried in the presence 
of Lord Chief Justice Marlay. Mr. Sheridan's 
cause came on the first. He was tried on the 
ground of assaulting and beating the gentleman 
on the nineteenth of January, in his dressing- 
room ; but the provocation he had received 
appeared to the jury so amply to justify his 
conduct, and it was so satisfactorily proved 
that no other person, save the manager, had 
touched the complainant, that the jury acquit- 
ted Mr. Sheridan without going out t>f the box. 
The trial of his opponent, for the mischief done 
at the theatre, in the dressing-rooms, and the 
wardrobe, took up a greater portion of time. 
The result was, that the assailant was found 
guilty, and sentenced to a fine of £500 and 
three months' imprisonment. 

After sentence was given, the Lord Chief 



28 MEMOIRS OF 

Justice animadverted upon the necessity of 
maintaining order and decorum at the theatre ; 
adding, that if any person forced his way be- 
hind the scenes, where money was not taken, 
and that person was apprehended and brought 
into the court, and the fact proved there, he 
should be prosecuted with the utmost severity 
of the law. 

The gentleman who had been thus con- 
demned, after suffering one week's confinement, 
applied to Mr. Sheridan to obtain a mitigation 
of his sentence. Mr. Sheridan instantly soli- 
cited the Government to relinquish the fine of 
£500, which was granted ; and then became 
solicitor and bail himself to the Court of King's 
Bench for the enlargement of the prisoner. 

Thus ended this memorable dispute : but not 
so transient were its consequences. The per- 
manent advantage which the theatre derived 
from Mr. Sheridan's firmness on this occasion, 
can only be estimated by a comparison of the 
sums received there (benefits excluded), from 
the year 174*8 to 1758, which was from two 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 29 

thousand per annum to ten thousand : and this 
change was, by his contemporaries, entirely at- 
tributed to the happy revolution effected by 
Mr. Sheridan in 1746, and the additional in- 
ducements held out in consequence to all per- 
sons of rank and character in the country, to 
support with their presence and patronage the 
credit of the national drama. 

When extricated from these unpleasant em- 
barrassments, Mr. Sheridan had leisure to re- 
flect upon the unknown champion, who had so 
ably defended his cause, in publishing the best 
pamphlet that had been produced on the sub- 
ject. He soon discovered the author, and the 
desire of an introduction to Miss Chamberlaine 
naturally followed. This introduction took 
place at the house of his sister, Mrs. Sheen ; 
and the interview produced in the mind of Mr. 
Sheridan exactly the impression which Miss 
Chamberlaine must be supposed to have de- 
sired ; for Mr. Sheridan was so captivated by 
her conversation, that a lively and reciprocal 
attachment was the result of this first meeting, 



30 MEMOIRS OF 

and they were married by her beloved brother, 
the Rev. Walter Chamber] aine, in the year 
17^7, Miss Chamberlaine having just com- 
pleted her twenty-second year. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 31 



CHAPTER II. 

Domestic Life of Mrs. Frances Sheridan. — Female Intimates. 

Family of Mr. Sheridan. — Anecdote of the Banshi. — 

Ancient and Modern Irish Cookery. — Quilca. — The Painted 
Chamber. — Whimsical Anecdotes of Walter Chamber- 
laine.— Poem of " The Three Travellers." 

The iirst years of Mrs. Sheridan's marriage 
were passed in the happiest manner, but so as 
to leave her little leisure for literary avocations. 
As Mr. Sheridan had purchased the paternal 
property of Quilca from his elder brother, her 
time was divided between that country residence 
and Dublin, where Mr. Sheridan had a house, 
in Dorset Street. 

But it was in the country that Mrs. Sheridan 
passed some of her happiest hours ; and there 
her amiable disposition and cultivated mind at- 
tracted the notice and conciliated the regard of 
all her visitors. 

Mrs. Sheridan's circle of town acquaintance 
was rather select than numerous, but her female 



32 MEMOIRS OF 

intimates were all distinguished for the best 
qualities either of the heart or understanding. 
Among them, I find the names of Mrs. Cun- 
ningham, a lady of most amiable character and 
considerable literary attainments ; and Mrs. 
Montgomery, mother of the three celebrated 
beauties, the Honourable Mrs. Beresford, Mrs. 
Gardiner,* and Anna, Marchioness of Towns- 
hend. Mrs. Sheridan was surrounded by her 
husband's family, whose regard she cultivated 
with affectionate and sedulous attention. Mr. 
Sheridan had three sisters living.')' The eldest, 

* First wife of Lord Mountjoy. 

f In the " Memoirs of the Public and Private Life of 
the Right Honourable Richard Brinsley Sheridan, by John 
Watkins, LL.D.," page 44, it is said of Dr. Sheridan, 
" The youngest of his two daughters married," &c. ; but this 
is a mistake. Dr. Sheridan had seven children : three sons, 
James, Thomas, and Richard; and four (not two) daughters. 
Elizabeth, above-mentioned ; Anne (afterwards Mrs. Sheen) ; 
Emily, who died young, and Hester (afterwards Mrs.Knowles). 

Like many Irish ladies who resided during the early part 
of life in the country, Miss Elizabeth Sheridan was a firm 
believer in the Banshi, or female daemon attached to certain 



PvIRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 33 

Miss Elizabeth Sheridan, distinguished in her 
youth as a beauty at the castle of Dublin, was 
nine years older than Mr. Sheridan, to whom, 
notwithstanding, she looked up with a mixture 
of affection and reverence, amply justified by 
the kindness and liberality of his conduct to- 
wards her. This lady had a lively and agree- 
able recollection of the days of Swift and Stella, 
and often mentioned, from memory, many cir- 
cumstances connected with that extraordinary 
pair. Miss Elizabeth Sheridan at that time re- 
sided chiefly with her married sister Mrs. Sheen, 
at whose house Mrs. Sheridan had been first in- 



ancient Irish families. She seriously maintained that the 
Banshi of the Sheridan family was heard wailing beneath 
the windows of Quilca before the news arrived from France 
of Mrs. Frances Sheridan's death at Blois, thus affording 
them a preternatural intimation of the impending melancholy 
event. A niece of Miss Sheridan's made her very angry by 
observing, that as Mrs. Frances Sheridan was by birth a 
Chamberlaine, a family of English extraction, she had no 
right to the guardianship of an Irish fairy, and that there- 
fore the Banshi must have made a mistake ! 



34 MEMOIRS OF 

troduced to the object of her choice. Mrs. 
Sheen was married in a manner apparently for- 
tunate, and had several children, but died rather 
young. Mr. Sheen was an Englishman, and 
came over in the suite of a Lord Lieutenant. 
He was a courtier, gay, fashionable, and dis- 
tinguished for personal attractions ; but the 
death of his wife, which happened under cir- 
cumstances peculiarly affecting, produced a 
great change in his temper and manners. He 
never could be brought to think of a second 
marriage, saying, that " no woman should ever 
take the place of Nancy Sheridan in his house 
or heart ;" and to this resolution, with which the 
charms and virtues of his first wife inspired him, 
he ever afterwards adhered. Mr, Sheen was 
appointed to a considerable place in the Cus- 
toms ; the income of which, even after he was 
superannuated, he continued to enjoy till he 
died. Hester, the third sister, who married 
Mr. Knowles, was younger than Mr. Sheridan. 
At this time, Quilca might be reckoned the rally- 
ing place where Mr, Sheridan's generous hos- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 35 

pitality collected all the branches of his scatter- 
ed family ; and in the society of his relatives 
and their children, he and Mrs. Sheridan en- 
joyed a happiness far superior to any they could 
have derived from a more extended and osten- 
tatious species of intercourse. Yet, even at 
this time, there were not wanting persons who 
accused Mr. Sheridan, most unjustly, of extra- 
vagance ; and alleged, in support of the charge, 
the elegance of his paternal residence of Quilca 
in the county of Cavan, which was so far from 
realizing Swift's often-quoted, but unfaithful 
description, that it possessed every convenience 
and comfort to be desired in a rural abode. 

It was here that, surrounded by a party of 
chosen friends, Mr. Sheridan on one occasion 
was enabled to make an estimate between the 
advantages of ancient and modern cookery. 
Although the enthusiasm for every thing that 
was old had not at that time risen to the height 
it has since done, several of his guests were of 
opinion that their ancestors were the true pos- 
sessors of the savoir vivre, and were very de- 

d 2 



36 MEMOIRSOF 

sirous that Mr. Sheridan should give them a 
specimen of the old Irish taste in hospitality. 
They particularly enlarged on the merits of a 
" swilled mutton," a dish which they affirmed 
preserved the juices of the animal in much 
greater perfection than any mode of dressing 
in which its limbs are divided. Mr. Sheridan 
agreed to the proposal, and accordingly a day 
was fixed for this revival of primaeval hospitality. 
The floor of the eating-room was strewed with 
rushes, and the different dishes, cooked after 
the ancient manner recommended, were placed 
upon the table. The sight of the antique pre- 
parations pleased these lovers of simplicity. No- 
thing could be more agreeable than dining in a 
room strewed with fresh cut rushes, and the 
" swilled mutton " was hailed as a noble relic 
of former times. It consisted of a sheep roasted 
whole, in the inside of which was insinuated a 
lamb ; the lamb was again stuffed with a hare 
and rabbits. There was also a goose, the body 
of which was stuffed with a duck, and other 
delicacies of a similar description. Having 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 3J 

been so loud in their commendations of these 
dishes, the guests tried to do honour to them 
on their appearance, but found them strangely 
repugnant to the taste of modern palates. Still 
they affected to relish them, praised the juiciness 
of the mutton, and the high taste of the goose ; 
but through all their affected approbation, Mr. 
Sheridan saw they were thoroughly disappoint- 
ed. He however suffered them to regale on 
these ungrateful viands, having only given a 
private hint to one or two friends to reserve 
themselves for something that was to succeed. 
When every one was completely satisfied, and 
more than satisfied, with the trial of their fore- 
father's mode of living, these antique dishes 
were taken away, and replaced by a second 
course ; consisting of venison, wild fowl, turbot 
from Dublin, and every delicacy the most grate- 
ful to a modern taste. The two or three 
epicures who had received a hint to reserve 
themselves till now, with great satisfaction began 
their real dinner; while the rest, who had al- 
ready dined heartily, could only lament their 

d 3 



38 MEMOIRS OF 

mistake, which had left them no appetite for 
the luxurious fare that succeeded. 

Mr. Sheridan's abode of Quilca, though much 
admired, was only a cottage. The roof of the 
principal sitting-room being coved, Lewis, the 
scene and portrait-painter, offered to convert this 
defect into a beauty; to which Mr. Sheridan 
consenting, the artist painted the cieling with 
classical designs, which formed a very elegant 
finish to his rural apartment. On this occasion, 
Mr. Sheridan incurred no expense, as the idea 
solely originated in Lewis's desire to make some 
return for the many kindnesses he had received 
from his patron in his capacity of manager of 
the theatre. 

When the ruin of Mr. Sheridan's affairs ob- 
liged him to give up Ireland, a part of Quilca 
was mortgaged to his brother-in-law Mr. Sheen, 
and the rest left in the hands of a distant re- 
lation, who was to have managed it for Mr. 
Sheridan's benefit. This relation let the re- 
mainder of the lands and the cottage to a 
farmer ; but long after the original proprietor 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 39 

had been banished by adversity from his native 
land, and she, the faithful partner of his wan- 
derings, whose virtues had adorned, and whose 
talents had irradiated this comparatively se- 
questered ^scene, had breathed her last in a fo- 
reign country, the humble occupant of Quilca 
still preserved unaltered the coved and painted 
chamber, and many were the visitants whom 
curiosity attracted to the spot where admiration 
of departed genius was blended with recollec- 
tions of domestic worth. 

To return from this seeming digression to our 
narrative. The brothers of Mrs. Sheridan were 
necessarily separated from her by professional 
engagements, excepting the Rev. Walter Cham- 
berlain e. In his society she experienced great 
pleasure and improvement ; for although an 
oddity, like his father, he was possessed of 
considerable abilities. The following instances 
of his readiness and humour are worth pre- 
serving. When he was going to perform duty 
one Sunday at his parish church, some rude 
boys, struck with something singular and whim- 
d 4 



40 MEMOIRS OF 

sical in his manner and appearance, pursued him 
with hooting and laughter to the very doors. 
Walter Chamberlaine marked the offenders, and 
being that day to preach as well as to read 
prayers, substituted in the place of the sermon 
he had previously intended to give, an extem- 
pore one, with the following text from the 
second chapter of the Second Book of Kings, 
v. 23, " And as he was going up by the way, 
there came forth little children out of the city 
and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, 
thou bald head ; go up, thou bald head" — 
v. 24, " And he turned back and looked on 
them, and cursed them in the name of the 
Lord. And there came forth two she bears out 
of the wood, and tare forty and two children 
of them." 

As soon as Walter Chamberlaine had pro- 
nounced this terrible text, his eye sought out 
the trembling culprits, whom he soon dis- 
covered, vainly endeavouring to hide them- 
selves behind others of the congregation. Then 
directing his looks fixedly on them, he began 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 41 

a discourse upon the reverence due both to 
age, and to the sacred character, and the terri- 
ble punishments denounced by scripture against 
those who failed to render it to either. Though 
not an aged man, like the prophet Elisha, he 
was a minister of God, and after emphatically 
painting the enormity of turning into ridicule 
one who exercised the sacred function, he en- 
larged upon the sin of those who mocked their 
neighbour for any infirmity, misfortune, or per- 
sonal defect whatever. This unpremeditated 
effusion produced the full impression intended 
to be made ; and it was the opinion of many 
who remembered to have been present in the 
church, that it was not only one of the best 
sermons Mr. Chamberlaine had ever preached, 
but one of the best they had ever heard. 

Another time, being to preach before a con- 
gregation in the country composed of none 
but the poorest and most illiterate classes, he 
found that, in a fit of absence of mind (not 
unusual with him), he had brought, in the place 
of the discourse he intended to have pro- 



42 MEMOIRS OF 

nounced, another written for the purpose of 
being delivered before a genteel audience in 
Dublin. A pause ensued. What was to be 
done? " Lord bless my soul !" muttered Walter 
Chamberlaine, " I have put the wrong sermon 
in my pocket !" Then, composing himself to 
address his hearers with becoming solemnity, 
" I find, my brethren," he said, " I have 
brought with me, by mistake, a sermon utterly 
above your comprehensions — I therefore shall 
not deliver it, but though unprepared, shall en- 
deavour, with the blessing of God, to give you 
something from myself that may be of benefit 
to you." 

He accordingly chose a text, and pronounced 
another admirable extempore sermon ; as w r ell 
suited to the wants and capacities of his igno- 
rant audience, as the written one was ill- 
adapted to them. Walter Chamberlaine was a 
poet, and the following jeu d'esprit affords a 
favourable specimen of his talent and fancy. 
As it has more than once been printed with- 
out acknowledgment, and has even been attri- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 43 

buted to the late Rt. Hon. R. B. Sheridan, I 
here give the first correct copy that has been 
published, with the name of the real author. 



THE TRAVELLERS: 

A TALE. 

By the Reverend Walter Chamberlaine. 

A good repute, a virtuous name, 

Philosophers set forth 
As the unerring path to fame, 

If fame consist in worth. 

This jewel, rarely to be found, 

Sets merit full in view : 
A moral glory shines around 

Whate'er the virtuous do. 

The precious ointment, gently shed, 

O'er mental ills prevails, 
And where the fragrant medicine's spread, 

It animates and heals. 

Yet hard it is to use it right, 

Though beautiful to view, 
It shines distinguishingly bright — 

How transitory too ! 



44 MEMOIRS OF 

Like glass it glitters, soon 'tis crack'd, 

Irreparably frail — 
All Moralists allow the fact, 

So I apply my Tale. 

When things inanimate could speak, 

Fire once agreed with Water 
A friendly jaunt one day to take, 

But where— 'tis no great matter. 

It happen'd that the day before 
Each left his different station, 

They chose a third — worth twenty more — 
And this was — Reputation. 

The three companions now reflect, 
If chance should once divide 'em, 

How each his letters might direct, 
Or who would surest guide 'em. 

Says Water, " Friends, you'll hear my name, 
Though lost upon a mountain ; 

Enquire at any murmuring stream, 
Or seek me in a fountain. 

" Where marshes stagnate, bogs extend, 

Green reeds and turfy sods 
Direct a path to meet your friend — 

A path the bulrush nods. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 45 

" From deep cascades I sometimes pour, 

Through meadows gently glide — 
I drop a dew, descend a shower, 

Or thunder in a tide." 

" Your restless make," quoth Fire, " I knew, 

Just like your parent Ocean^ 
I like to rove as well as you, 

My life consists in motion. 

" But should I stray, you'll find me soon 

In matches, flints, and tapers : 
And though my temper's brisk and boon, 

I'm often in the vapours. 

" From Smoke sure tidings you may get, 

It can't subsist without me ; 
Or find me, like some fond coquette, 

With fifty sparks about me. 

" In poets all my marks you see, 

Since flash and smoke reveal me : 
Suspect me always near Nat. Lee — 

Ev'n Blackmore can't conceal me. 

" In Mil ton s page I glow by art, 

One flame intense and even — 
In Shakespeare's blaze, a sudden start, 

Like lightning shot from heaven. 



46 MEMOIRS OF 

" In many more, a living ray, 
Through various forms I shift — 

I'm gently lambent while I'm Gay, 
But brightest when I'm Sivift. 

" In different shapes, too, am I seen, 
Among the young and fair, 

And as the virtues shine within, 
You'll ever find me there. 

" The best of slaves I'm call'd by men, 
When held in proper durance ; 

But if I once do mischief, — then 
I'm heard of at th'Insurance ! 

" Through Nature's walks I take my flight 

And kindle as I run— 
Up from the tinder-box, I light 

The chariot of the Sun !" 

" Alas !" poor Reputation cried, 
" How happy in each other: 

Such numerous marks must sure ly guide 
Each straggler to his brother. 

<• 'Tis I alone must be undone, 
Such ills has Fate assign'd me — 

If J be lost, 'tis ten to one, 
You never more will find me." 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 47 

The best imitations of " The Travellers " is 
" Reputation," an allegory, by Cunningham. 
Yet upon a comparison of the two, the supe- 
riority of Mr. Chamberlaine's poem will be 
apparent. 



48 MEMOIRS OF 



CHAPTER III. 

Birth of Mrs. Sheridan's Children. — Thomas. — Charles Francis. 
— Richard Brinsley, and Alicia. — Second Theatrical Riot. 
— Contradiction of a passage in Mrs. Inchbald's Remarks 
upon the Traged}' of Mahomet — Unpublished Anecdote 

of Digges Second Anecdote of Digges. — Birth of Sack- 

ville Sheridan. — Anecdote of Lord Germaine. - Anecdote 
of the Duke of Dorset. 

At this time the claims of a rising family 
were so numerous, as to demand all Mrs. She- 
ridan's care and attention. 

Her maternal tenderness was destined to 
receive a severe shock in the loss of her eldest 
boy, who was born in 17^7» and named Tho- 
mas, after his father. He died at three years 
old, in 17«50, at an age in which parents already 
begin to discover the interesting signs of intel- 
ligence and sensibility in their offspring, which 
was particularly the case on this occasion. 

In the rest of her children Mrs. Sheridan 
was more fortunate ; Charles Francis, the se- 
cond son, was so named after Charles Gardiner, 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 49 

the father of the first Lord Mountjoy, and his 
own mother, whose name was Frances. 

He was born June 1750, the same year in 
which she lost her eldest boy. 

Richard Brinsley,* who was also christened 
Butler, after the Earl of Lanesborough, was 
born September 1751. 

Her fourth child was a daughter, named 
Alicia after the Honourable Alicia Caulfield, 
sister to Lord Charlemont. Alicia was born 
January 1753. 

A mind like Mrs. Sheridan's must have been 
peculiarly susceptible of maternal claims. In 
" Sidney Biddulph," she may be here supposed 
to give a transcript of her own feelings. 

" How delightful are the sensations, my dear 
Cecilia, that I feel hourly springing in my 
heart ! Surely the tenderness of a mother can 

* In a work I shall often have occasion to notice, " Me- 
moirs of the Public and Private Life of the Right Honourable 
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, by John Watkins, LL.D.," it is 
said, page 157, that his first name was " after his uncle's ;" 
but this is a mistake. His three names of Richard, Brinsley, 
andButler, were given by Lord Lanesborough. 

E 



50 MEMOIRS OF 

never be sufficiently repaid — I never see my 
dear little girl, but I think such were the 
tender sentiments, the sweet anxieties, that my 
honoured and beloved mother felt when her 
Sidney was such a brat as this! Then I say, 
surely I have a right to all the duty, all the 
filial love, that this creature can shew me in 
return for my fondness. . . . 

" How delightful will be the task of ex- 
panding and forming the minds of these che- 
rubs! " 

With such feelings, the birth of a child of 
her own sex, over whose education she might 
more particularly preside, must have been an 
additional source of satisfaction to Mrs. Sheri- 
dan : and accordingly we find that, engrossed 
by her pleasing duties, she confined herself to 
a very small and select circle of her own and 
her husband's friends. Mr. Sheridan's profes- 
sion, however, necessarily threw him into a 
more widely extended sphere, and led him into 
gay connexions, which, however flattering to 
his merit, in the end proved fatal to his in- 
terests. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 51 

Having already experienced how much a 
manager may be opposed and thwarted in the 
discharge of his duty, by the insolence of indi- 
viduals, and the malevolence of party, Mr. 
Sheridan had frequently, since the riot of 1746, 
consulted with his friends upon the expediency 
of establishing a Theatrical Club ; to consist 
of persons qualified to judge of the merit of 
such pieces as should be presented to their 
notice, and also possessed of influence sufficient 
to support the manager against malicious and 
unmerited attacks. This was the origin of the 
too-celebrated " Beef-Steak Club." An institu- 
tion authorized by ancient custom in every 
theatre, but generally consisting of a meeting 
of actors and writers for the stage, to which 
were occasionally added Amateurs, who might 
be considered in the light of honorary mem- 
bers. 

But, under Mr. Sheridan's management, the 
" Beef-Steak Club " included nearly all that 
the metropolis of Dublin could boast of talent, 
rank, and fashion. Still it was begun with iig 

E 2 



5% M EMOIRS OF 

party intention on the side of the manager, 
although afterwards converted into a most fatal 
engine of party against himself. 

In the year 1753, the club consisted of about 
sixty noblemen and gentlemen, chiefly mem- 
bers of parliament, friends of Mr. Sheridan, 
and admirers of the Drama. Perhaps no pe- 
riod ever witnessed an assemblage so calculated, 
by spirit, wit, and talent, to decide upon the 
merits of works of genius. There seldom were 
more than thirty at the same time at these 
meetings, which took place at the Theatre ; 
and the celebrated Margaret Woffington, who 
then sparkled the brightest star in the Dublin 
theatrical hemisphere, was (with ill-fated gal- 
lantry) elected president of this committee of 
taste. 

To this flattering distinction it must be al- 
lowed she was entitled, on many accounts Be- 
sides her unrivalled popularity as an actress, 
she possessed, we are told,* a good understand- 
ing, which was much improved by company 

* Daviess Life of Garrick. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 53 

and books. She had a most attractive spright- 
liness in her manners, and considerable vivacity 
and humour ; she was affable, good-natured, 
and charitable. Her company was sought after 
bv men of the first rank and distinction : 
persons of the gravest character, and most 
eminent for learning, were proud of her ac- 
quaintance, and charmed with her conversa- 
tion. Notwithstanding all these advantages, 
however, her moral character was such as to 
exclude her from the society of her own sex ; 
and she comforted herself for their just disdain 
by the very unfounded remark, " that the con- 
versation of women consisted of nothing but 
silks and scandal." 

Mr. Sheridan found it impossible, therefore, 
to introduce her to his wife : a compliment 
that would have been the more gratifying, as 
Mrs. Sheridan kept up no intercourse whatever 
with any of the other performers. It was solely 
from this consideration, and the desire, at the 
same time, to pay some tribute to genius, by 
which he had so materially benefitted as a 
e 3 



54 MEMOIRS OF 

manager, that he was induced to shew Mrs. 
Woffington a distinction which excited the jea- 
lousy of the other performers. 

The fame of these theatrical parties increased 
the ill-humour of the uninitiated, who were not 
invited to partake of them ; and as the noble- 
men and gentlemen that composed them were 
chiefly supporters of Government, Mr. Sheridan 
was most falsely and injuriously supposed to 
take a more active part in the politics of the 
day, than was becoming in an individual whose 
best interests were inseparably connected with 
the favour of the public. It is well known that 
the revival of the tragedy of Mahomet, was the 
occasion of the explosion of those discontents 
which had so long been gathering ; and that 
the following was the passage marked out for 
tumultuous applause. 

" If, ye powers divine ! 
Ye mark the movements of this nether world, 
And bring them to account, crush, crush those vipers ; 
Who, singled out by the community 
To guard their rights, shall, for a grasp of ore 
Or paltry office, sell them to the foe ! 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 55 

This passage, as applied by the anti- courtiers 
to the ministers then in power, was honoured 
with the singular distinction of an " encore ;" 
and the fine scenes between Zaphna and Pal- 
mira, which are usually the most admired in 
the play, were this night suffered to pass 
unnoticed ; while all the applause was directed 
towards the character of Alcanor, the personage 
who recites the speech above quoted. 

The audience being thus obviously influenced 
by the spirit of party, Mr. Sheridan was cer- 
tainly guilty of an oversight in giving out the 
play for a second representation : but he thought 
to obviate the inconveniences attached to such a 
compliance by remonstrating — or, in the sim- 
ple but expressive phrase of the Historian of 
the Theatre, " Reading a Lecture" to the 
company on the duties of an actor, previous to 
the ensuing night's performance. In this 
Green-room Lecture he says : — 

" I lay it down as a maxim, that the busi- 
ness of an actor is to divest himself, as much 
as possible, of his private sentiments, and to 
e 4 



56 MEMOIRS OF 

enter, with all the spirit he is master of, into 
the character he represents ; and this is an 
indisputable claim which the public, in general, 
have upon him. 

" But if an actor, in order to please part of 
that public, should by any unusual emphasis, 
gesture, or significant look, mark out a passage 
in his part (which at another juncture he would 
pass by lightly) as a party -stroke — he in that 
instance steps out of his feigned character into 
his natural one ; than which nothing can 
be more insolent to the audience, or more 
calculated to bring disapprobation and dis- 
grace not only on himself, but upon all his 
brethren." 

In this discourse, which certainly contains 
very valuable hints in addition to Hamlet's 
Advice to the Players, the attentive observer 
of character will remark much of Mr. Sheri- 
dan's spirit of order and system, and the desire 
with which he was actuated on all occasions, 
of impressing a sense of moral responsibility, 
and of their duties in the relation in which 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 57 

they stood to the public, upon the community 
of which he was the head. Unfortunately, his 
good intentions were not seconded on this 
occasion. 

Mr. Digges, the actor who played Alcanor, 
and who in the representation of that part had 
complied with the wishes of the audience, in 
the repetition of the obnoxious speech, con- 
ceived himself reflected upon : and, applying 
the whole of the lecture to himself, desired to 
know what were the Manager's directions, in 
case of the repetition of a similar demand on 
the part of the audience. , Mr. Sheridan's reply 
was, that " he should give him no directions : 
he must use his own discretion." Digges then 
said, " Sir, if I should comply with the demand 
of the audience, and repeat the speech as I did 
before, am I to incur your censure for so 
doing ?" The Manager replied, " Not at all ; 
I leave you to use your own discretion." No- 
thing could be more moderate or conciliatory 
than this answer, the meaning of which was 
apparent. 



58 MEMOIRS OF 

Mr, Sheridan, as a friend and respectful well- 
wisher to Government, by which every person 
in public life is supported, could not authorize 
the repetition of a particular passage in a play 
after it had been turned by the malignant in- 
terpretations of individuals into a direct attack 
upon that Government, which had always dis- 
tinguished his honourable exertions by its 
countenance and favour. At the same time, 
as Mr. Sheridan was no courtier, he assumed 
it as an incontrovertible position, that, should 
the audience take the responsibility into their 
own hands, by insisting on the repetition of 
the favourite speech, the actor, as the servant 
of the public, was bound to obey them ; and 
the manager disclaimed any idea of fettering 
his power by imposing further restrictions upon 
him.* 

* In Mrs. Inchbald's " Remarks" upon the Tragedy of 
" Mahomet," there is quite a false account given of this 
transaction. 

" On its first representation on the Dublin Stage" (it was 
not the first, it was a revival :) "a few sentences in the part 

of 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 59 

Unfortunately, a difference of some standing 
had grown up between Mr. Digges and the 

of Alcanor had such accidental allusion to some great men, 
or man, then in power in that nation" (Query : the nation of 
Dublin) " that the audience, enraptured upon the utterance, 
and willing to show their own implication, encored those 
lines with such unanimous vehemence, that the performer 
thought it his duty to repeat them, in compliance with their 
desire. The late Mr. Sheridan (father of the author of the 
School for Scandal) was at that time manager of the Theatre 
of Dublin, in which adventure all his property, all his hopes, 
were embarked ; yet he boldly censured the actor who had 
yielded to the command of the audience, and forbade a 
repetition of any speech in the part of Alcanor, however 
loudly it might be called for on the following night. Mr. 
Sheridan knew the predicament in which he was placed ; he 
knew the fury of an exasperated audience in Ireland : he 
knew their power over all his possessions — yet, firm in his 
politics, he beheld, on the next evening, his theatre totally 
demolished, and his own life in danger, without revoking the 
peremptory orders he had issued." 

This is a very spirited climax, and a highly-wrought picture 
of a political martyr, or rather madman ; for such Mr. She- 
ridan would assuredly have been, with a wife and young 
family, to have risked his all in a cause in which he had no 
concern. But, unfortunately, the eulogium, if it be meant 

for 



60 



MEMOIRS OF 



manager ; which, as it has not been noticed in 
any preceding relation of this transaction, is 
here given exactly as it occurred. 

It is the custom at all theatres that a person 
appointed for that purpose should summon the 
performers, according as they are wanted, upon 
the stage. This summons Digges had, on one 
occasion, disregarded, to the great annoyance 
of the other actors, and disappointment of the 
audience. Upon Mr. Sheridan's remonstrating 
with him upon the inconvenience he had thus 
occasioned, by not being drest for his part, and 
by keeping the audience a considerable time 
waiting, Digges replied : " that it was in con- 
sequence of his not having received the usual 
summons." To this Mr. Sheridan answered, 
" Excuse me, Mr. Digges, the man assured me 

for such, was totally undeserved by his conduct, which was 
regulated by the dictates of moderation and prudence. 

There have been published some very good " Remarks" 
by Cooke, the actor, " on Mrs. Inchbald's Remarks ;" and 
certainly, notwithstanding that lady's acknowledged genius, 
her observations on the drama are often singularly crude, 
superficial, and dogmatical. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 6l 

that he had repeatedly given you notice you 
were wanted on the stage." Digges, who, 
like Mr. Sheridan, was a gentleman both by 
birth and education, and who was of a haughty 
and violent temper, answered with some heat : 
" Would you believe the assertion of such a 
fellow as that in preference to mine ?" To 
this Mr. Sheridan unguardedly replied, " He 
never gave me reason to disbelieve him ; that 
man never told me a lie" 

This expression, by which the manager only 
meant to infer that a person of integrity, how- 
ever low his station, was not, on that ac- 
count, to be considered as unworthy of credit, 
rankled in the mind of Digges ; and some 
nights afterwards Mrs. Ryder (wife to the 
manager of that name, but at that time a very 
young person) overheard Digges talking over 
the affront he had received with Mrs. Ward, an 
actress, in the green-room. On this occasion 
he made use of the remarkable expression : — 
" I shall find an opportunity to be revenged 



6 C 2 MEMOIRS OF 

on Sheridan for doubting my word." How fa- 
tally he succeeded will appear in the sequel ! 

Actuated by these unfriendly feelings to- 
wards Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Digges on the second 
night of the performance (March % 17<54), in- 
stead of making use of the discretionary power 
entrusted to him by the manager, hinted, on 
the reiteration of the command for this party 
speech, that he had Mr. Sheridan's positive 
orders not to indulge the public with it. The 
most violent outcries for the manager ensued. 
Mr. Sheridan did not judge it prudent to com- 
ply with their summons ; and, being strongly 
impressed with the idea that personal mischief 
was intended to himself, he got into a chair, 
and returned to his own house, whither he was 
guarded by his friends to the door. 

The news of the manager's departure only 
rendered the rioters more furious. They in- 
sisted on his return; but in consideration of his 
living at some distance, declared they would 
wait patiently one hour. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 63 

This was certainly the critical period on 
which Mr. Sheridan's fortunes hung: and there 
is little doubt, from the inclination thus be- 
trayed for a compromise, that, had he presented 
himself within the course of that eventful hour, 
all might yet have been well. At the same 
time, those who feel inclined to blame the line 
of conduct he pursued on this occasion, must 
remember that his life had already been threat- 
ened, both in public and private, by these very 
persons ; so that his mistrust of them, however 
it may be lamented, cannot be thought sur- 
prising. The liour elapsed, and the rioters re- 
newed their call. Still Mr. Sheridan did not 
appear. Two of the principal leaders then rose 
up from the middle of the pit: this was the 
concerted signal. A young man in the pit 
stood up and cried out, " God bless His Ma- 
jesty King George !" with three huzzas ; and 
this sound, in general the harbinger of peace 
and joy, was made, on this occasion, the watch- 
word for one of the most disgraceful scenes 
ever recorded in the annals of the Drama. At 



64 MEMOIRS OF 

the end of the third huzza, the work of de- 
struction began. The benches were torn up ; 
the chandeliers, which were very valuable, 
broken to pieces -, and the audience part of the 
house destroyed in five minutes. After this 
outrage, some moved to fire the house, others 
to attack the wardrobe. A party leaped upon 
the stage, and with their swords and other in- 
struments slashed the curtain, which was finely 
painted, and cost a great sum of money, and 
broke and cut to pieces all the scenes within 
their reach. Some attempts were made to at- 
tack the wardrobe : but finding that place well 
defended, they retired \ and in so doing, a 
party of rioters who went off through the box- 
room, dragged the grate full of burning coals 
into the middle of the room, and then laid 
some of the broken doors of the boxes upon 
it; but, notwithstanding these preparations, 
which could hardly have been expected to fail 
of their effect, the intended mischief was pre- 
vented by a timely discovery, and the theatre 
was not set on fire. But the loss Mr. Sheridan 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 65 

sustained in his property was such as he was 
never afterwards able to retrieve, and produced 
a complete change in the aspect of his affairs. 
Such was the conclusion of his meritorious en- 
deavours to deserve the favour of the public ! 
Still, all the well-disposed part of that public 
sympathized in his misfortune as in a general 
calamity ; and his daughter has often heard his 
surviving contemporaries, particularly those 
ladies who remembered the advantageous effect 
his character and conduct produced on the 
regulation of the theatre, lament the disorder 
and anarchy that almost immediately ensued 
there, and at the same time expatiate on the 
period of his undisputed influence, as the golden 
era of the Irish Drama.* 



* It has been observed, that no enmities are stronger than 
those contracted within the walls of a theatre; and of that 
the subsequent conduct of Mr. Digges affords sufficient 
proof. Digges, according to the accounts of those times, 
possessed a commanding figure, an impressive countenance, 
and a noble deportment ; but the effect of all these ad- 
vantages was lessened by a harsh, inharmonious voice, that 

sufficiently 



66 MEMOIRS OF 

The peril to which Mr. Sheridan was exposed, 
during the night of the riot at the theatre, was 

sufficient^ announced the very unpleasant temper for which 
he was remarkable. 

His resentment against Mr. Sheridan, for the incautious 
expression he had unguardedly used, after appearing to 
sleep for a period of thirty years, shewed itself again on 
the following occasion. In the year 1784, in Dublin, 
Digges chose for his own benefit once more to revive the 
Tragedy of Mahomet : and, in order to give more attrac- 
tion to the entertainment of the night, caused it to be 
announced in the bills as " the Play that had been the ruin 
of Mr. Sheridan in 1754." 

Such a singular proceeding did not fail to excite the 
public curiosity, and Digges appeared in his favourite 
character of Alcanor, in hopes to renew in part his for- 
mer triumph. 

One of Mr. Sheridan's daughters was in her private -box 
at the Theatre, and witnessed the manner in which Digges 
(then an old man) gave the memorable imprecation — 

" Crush, crush those vipers," &c. 

It was with all the energy of his youthful feelings, and the 
poignancy of remembered and unextinguishable hatred. But 
when he paused, to receive the rapturous applause, that had 
formerly marked the delivery of this famous party speech, 

a dead 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 6j 

the severest trial that, since her marriage, Mrs. 
Sheridan had to endure ; and it was increased 
by the ill-judged precipitancy of a servant, who, 
running home from the theatre in an early 
stage of the disturbance, alarmed her with an 
exaggerated account that his master was in the 
most imminent danger of his life, and the the- 
atre actually in flames. The agony of mind 
she suffered, during the moment of suspense 
that intervened between this alarming state- 
ment and the safe return of her husband, was 
productive of the most afflicting consequences. 
At this eventful period Mrs. Sheridan was near 
her fifth confinement ; and the sufferings she 
endured had such an effect upon the health of 
the infant, that it expired three mopths after 
its birth in convulsions. Yet the behaviour of 
Mrs. Sheridan, on this trying occasion, is per- 
haps as perfect an example of unaffected kind- 
ness and gentleness of mind as ever was exhi- 

f 2 
a dead silence prevailed, and not a hand moved : so decided 
was the disapprobation of the public expressed at this at- 
tempt to revive forgotten animosities ! 



68 MEMOIRS OF 

bited by a woman. Notwithstanding the cruel 
shock both her health and hopes had received 
by the servant's unguarded rashness, she neither 
at the time, nor afterwards, ever mentioned the 
circumstance to his master. 

The child, born under such unfortunate aus- 
pices, was christened Sackville, after his Grace 
the Duke of Dorset, then Lord . Lieutenant, 
who did Mr. Sheridan the honour to stand god- 
father. 

This kindness of the Duke, as well as many 
others shewn by that nobleman to Mr. Sheri- 
dan, proceeded solely from the esteem in which 
he held his private character, and the value that 
he set on his society ; yet, from the violent 
height to which party spirit had risen, certain 
it is that the distinction with which he was 
always received by the Lord Lieutenant was 
in a great measure the cause of the clamour 
raised against Mr. Sheridan. 

Having the honour to be thus personally 
considered by the Viceroy, Mr. Sheridan had 
been assiduous in paying his duty at the castle 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 69 

He was also frequently at the Duke's private 
dinners and parties. The same friendship was 
extended to him for some years after this 
period ; and in those domestic sorrows, from 
which the highest lot in human life is not 
exempted, Mr. Sheridan was the confidential 
depository of the sufferings then endured by a 
faithful subject and an affectionate father.* 

r 3 

* Mr. Cumberland has given some interesting anecdotes 
of Lord George Sackville, afterwards Lord Viscount Ger- 
maine, during his residence near Tunbridge, to which I 
may be permitted to add the following : 

Some time after the disastrous affair of Minden had con- 
signed that amiable nobleman to private life, and the name 
of Lord George Sackville was in some degree forgotten in 
the new title of Lord Germaine, a country clergyman, wholly 
unacquainted with his Lordship, applied for a living in his 
gift : with which request Lord Germaine, in consequence of 
the applicant's good character, thought proper to comply. 
The first time his Lordship came down to the country, the 
clergyman waited on him to return thanks to his patron. In 
the course of conversation, Lord Germaine chanced to ask 
him " if he was a sportsman ?" The clergyman, little 
acquainted with the changes in the Court Calendar, and 

totally 



70 MEMOIRS OF 

But though thus distinguished by the Duke 
of Dorset m private, Mr. Sheridan, as a public 
character, had always preserved that prudent 
medium which alone became a man wholly 
unconnected with politics. Mr. Boswell is, 
therefore, wholly unfounded in the assertion, 
(vol. i. p. 869-70) that the pension which was 
granted several years afterwards to Mr. Sheri- 
dan, and respecting which Johnson expressed 
himself so ungraciously, was given to him " as 
a sufferer in the cause of Government when he 
was manager of the Theatre Royal in Ireland, 
where parties ran high in 1753." The fact was 
quite otherwise —and the anecdote tells equally 
to the honour of Mr. Sheridan, and of the 

totally ignorant of his patron's former title, answered, " Not 
I, indeed, my Lord ! Lord George Sackville does not hate 
the smell of gunpowder more than I do." When he took 
leave, a person who was present, and withdrew at the same 
time with him, informed the stranger of the confusion he 
had made. Upon which the simple man insisted on return- 
ing to apologize for his blunder, and begged his Lordship 
would impute it to the true cause — his utter ignorance of the 
title he had formerly borne. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 71 

friendly nobleman who so generously stepped 
forward to his assistance, in the hour of his 
distress. 

The Duke of Dorset on learning Mr. She- 
ridan's theatrical misfortune, made him an 
offer, in the handsomest terms, of a pension of 
three hundred pounds a year, as some compen- 
sation for the losses he had sustained on that 
occasion. This offer Mr. Sheridan, however, 
respectfully declined : alleging that such a 
favour from Government would confirm all the 
unjust reports to his disadvantage, and cut him 
off from all future hopes of the patronage of 
the public ; whereas if he persisted in refusing 
all remuneration, it was his trust and belief 
that his conduct would soon be viewed in a 
proper light, and that it would yet be in his 
power, by means of the theatre, to raise a 
fortune for his family. 

The pension of two hundred a year, which 
was granted him above eight years afterwards, 
was solely on the ground of his literary merits. 

F 4 



7^ MEMOIRSOF 

Perceiving, however, that the current of 
popular prejudice ran so strongly against him, 
he fixed on the only course that prudence 
dictated : to give up the management, and let 
the theatre for a teim of two years. He then 
embarked for England, where he knew his 
talents would ensure him the most favourable 
reception, leaving Mrs. Sheridan to settle affairs 
at home, and remain with her children till he 
could make the desired arrangements for her 
rejoining him. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. JS 



CHAPTER IV. 

Mrs. Sheridan's removal to England. — Return in 1766. — 
Original Anecdotes of Spranger Barry. — Mr, SamuelWhyte 
of Grafton Street. — Examination of a passage in Dr. Wat- 
kins's " Memoirs" relative to the late Right Hon. R. B. 
Sheridan. — Final Removal to England in 1758. — Mrs. She- 
ridan's Circle of English Friends. — Samuel Richardson. — 
Birth of Mrs. Sheridan's youngest daughter Elizabeth. — 
Miss Pennington.— Anecdotes.— Mrs. Scott. — Sarah Field- 
ing. — Garrick. — Murphy.— Original Anecdote of Mrs. 
Barry.— History of the Tragedy of The Earl of Essex. 

From the period of her marriage up to the 
present time, we have contemplated this 
admirable woman in the enjoyment of all the 
comforts and elegancies of life, easy in her 
circumstances, and blest in her family. 

She was now called on to relinquish many 
of these advantages ; but in her strong attach- 
ment to her husband, found a compensation for 
every sacrifice that could be required of her. 

This attachment, the singular rise of which 
has been particularly related, formed the 



74 MEMOIRS OF 

governing principle of every period of Mrs. 
Sheridan's existence. Her husband was, with 
her, the object of a love and veneration to 
which all other objects were made subservient. 
He was the unbiassed choice of her youth ; 
and, by a concurrence of circumstances fortu- 
nate but rare, that choice was confirmed by 
time, and constituted the happiness of her 
whole future life. 

When Mr. Sheridan was able to send for her 
to England, she rejoined him there ; leaving 
her children (except Charles Francis, who never 
went from his parents) under the care of kind 
and attentive sisters, with whom their time was 
spent, either at Quilca, or at their father's 
house in Dublin. 

But towards the close of the year 1756 
prospects began to clear. 

The Dublin public became sensible of the 
impropriety of their behaviour to Mr. Sheridan; 
and these sentiments being made known to him 
through the medium of his correspondents, he 
accepted the favourable omen, and, September 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. ^5 

1766, resumed the management of theatrical 
affairs. 

It being thought necessary to address the 
audience with a few words of apology and 
explanation, before he renewed the represen- 
tation of any of his favourite characters, Mr. 
Sheridan complied with this requisition : " and 
never," ('says the theatrical historian) " never 
in the opinion of the best judges, did any 
man within their observation appear before the 
public with such address, or speak to the 
passions with such propriety. Tears gushed 
from the eyes of several of his male auditors ;" 
and at the recollection of his severe losses and 
of his unmerited sufferings, the hearts of his 
precipitate but generous countrymen beat re- 
sponsive in one universal flow of sympathy. 
The most unmingled plaudits welcomed the 
exile back to the scene he had dignified and 
adorned before; and these satisfactory and 
flattering testimonies of regard were continued 
in his subsequent appearance in the character 
of Hamlet, and during his performance of all 



76 MEMOIRS OF 

the principal characters he was accustomed to 
represent.* 

Notwithstanding this brilliant success, Mr. 
Sheridan, having received two lessons on the in- 
stability of public favour, began to turn his 
thoughts seriously to literature : a resource for 
which his education and talents eminently qua- 
lified him. From this time, although he did 
not quit the stage, he may be considered in the 
additional character of a man of letters. Under 
this point of view, the number and importance 
of the works he executed, and the solid benefit 
of which they were productive to his family 
and the public, are the best evidences of the 
strength and versatility of his mind, and prove 
how much can be accomplished by a single and 

* Such was the tumultuous joy expressed by his country- 
men on Mr. Sheridan's return, that the historian of the 
theatre, in reviewing the transaction, makes use of the 
curious comparison of " a quarrel between lovers." 

" Mr. Sheridan's abilities as an actor (he continues) must 
be fully proved by the success that attended his twelve years' 
performances in that improved theatre, of which he was the 
constant and chief support." 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 77 

unassisted individual, who carries to his task a 
spirit of unwearied activity, and a determina- 
tion to improve every passing hour. 

While these double duties engaged her hus- 
band's thoughts and time, that of Mrs. Sheridan 
was chiefly spent in a small retreat at Glas- 
nevin, where she could enjoy with her children 
the advantage of breathing a purer air than in 
Dublin, and devote herself unremittingly to 
their improvement. 

The winter of 1757 was to Mr. Sheridan as 
successful as the preceding one ; but afterwards, 
the erection of the new theatre in Crow-street, 
under the auspices of Spranger Barry, and the 
loss of some of Mr. Sheridan's best performers, 
rendered it no longer desirable for him to con- 
tinue in the management. Fashion, which had 
formerly so powerfully supported Mr. Sheridan, 
had now gone over to the side of Barry. 

To the finest figure and most interesting 
countenance, this performer united the magic 
of that fascinating voice, which obtained for 



78 MEMOIRS OF 

him the name of " the silver-toned Barry." 
In parts of tenderness and pathos — in such cha- 
racters as Jaffier, Mark Antony, or Varanes — 
he was unrivalled : and that latter character in 
which he inspired such a powerful interest, has 
not been able since his time to maintain its 
place on the stage. The same qualities fol- 
lowed him into private life. Destitute of prin- 
ciple, but gifted with such powers of pleasing, 
Spranger Barry was a man of whom at might 
be said, that, " whomsoever he chose he could 
subdue, and he chose to subdue every one." 

When the affairs of his theatre took an unfa- 
vourable turn, and, unlike Mr. Sheridan, he 
left every department unpaid and unsatisfied, 
the angry tradesmen used to besiege his door, 
vowing that though they had been frequently 
paid off with words, this time they would not 
depart without their money. Mr. Barry would 
then desire to see them. A single claimant w^as 
admitted at a time. After a conference of 
some duration, he returned with a pleased 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 79 

and satisfied countenance to the anxious and 
expectant crowd of creditors below. Judging 
by the reception their companion met what 
was likely to be their own chance, he was 
eagerly interrogated by the gaping crowd. 
" Well, you have seen Mr. Barry ?"— " Yes." 
— " You have got your money?"—" No." 
— " A part of it?"—" Not one shilling.— 
But Mr. Barry spoke to me so kindly — 
seemed so distrest to keep me waiting — 
promised me so faithfully that the next time 
I called the money should be forthcoming — 
that he has, I know not how, got the better of 
my anger, and I could not find it in my heart 
to press a gentleman any further." 

If Barry was so successful in exercising his 
powers of persuasion on the flinty hearts of 
angry creditors, with the gentler sex he was, of 
course, still more irresistible ; and though we 
have such high authority as the Letters of the 
celebrated Mrs. Montagu, that " notwithstand- 
ing Barry's sentimental blue eyes, it always 
appeared to her that he looked like a fool ;" it 



80 MEMOIRS OF 

was far from being the most usual impression 
that he made. # 

* Towards the close of the year 1758, and the beginning of 
1759, Barry, after Mr. Sheridan's departure, hit upon the fol- 
lowing expedient to oppose the benefits of the other house. 
The same night on which there was to be the benefit of a 
performer at the opposite house, Barry used to apply to some 
female leader of the Ton, and request her to bespeak a play, 
making an interest for all parts of the house, but more par- 
ticularly with her tradesmen, for the pit and gallery. In 
these negotiations, his fine person and insinuating manners 
generally rendered him successful. 

On one of these occasions, the great lady of the night had, 
as was usual, sent out pit and gallery tickets to all her 
tradespeople, with threatenings of the loss of her custom if 
they did not dispose of them. On arriving early in the box- 
room to receive her company, great was her mortification to 
be informed that her orders had been very ill obeyed, and 
that it was likely to prove but a thin house. The time 
approached for the drawing up of the curtain, and at the 
sight of a thin pit and gallery, the lady was so much affected, 
that she was ready to faint. Smelling-bottles and other 
restoratives were applied, and as soon as her Ladyship reco- 
vered the power of speech, she cried out "that she was 
ruined and undone ; that she should never be able to look 
dear Mr, Barry in the face again, after such a shocking dis- 
appointment." 

At 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 81 

To return to Mrs. Sheridan. Neither the 
disappointment of her own and her husband's 
hopes, nor the anxieties with which her future 

At these repeated lamentations, the box-keeper advanced 
and said : " I beg your Ladyship will not be so disheartened ; 
indeed, your Ladyship's house will mend, your Ladyship's 
galleries will certainly mend before the play begins." 

" Nonsense !" cried the lady ; " I tell you I am undone — 
ruined and undone, that's all ! But I'll be revenged ! I am 
resolved I'll pay off — no ; I mean I'll turn off all my saucy 
tradesmen to-morrow morning." 

Barry was then in his prime; being scarcely turned of 
forty. As a contrast to the preceding anecdote, view him as 
he was seen in London by Mrs. H. Lefanu, in 1775, broken 
down by infirmity more than by years, for repeated and 
severe attacks of rheumatism had deprived his once fine and 
lofty figure of all its elasticity and grace. A chair, placed 
at the side scene, was in readiness to receive the exhausted 
actor the moment he went off the stage, and the part he 
happened to perform that night was in unison with the 
ruin Time had effected, for it was that of " Lear." 

In the last scene of the fifth act, after snatching a sword 
from the officer, and striking down the two ruffians who 
had attempted to seize upon Cordelia, the King says to 
one of his knights who is relating the deed to Edgar : 

G « Did 



82 MEMOIRSOF 

lot was environed, could damp the ardour of 
her benevolence, or the eagerness with which 
her kind heart embraced every opportunity of 
obliging and benefiting others. 

At this time Mr. Samuel Whyte, of Grafton 
Street (so often mentioned in the " Memoirs of 
the Rt. Hon. R. B. Sheridan"), was opening his 
grammar-school, and Mrs. Sheridan exerted 
herself in every way to promote his interest. 
This gentleman, who w T as eight years younger 
than Mrs. Sheridan, had always been treated 
by her with a kindness which he was far from 

" Did I not, fellow? 
I've seen the day, with my good biting falchion 
I could have made them skip ; / am old noiv, 
And these vile crosses spoil me ; out of breath, 
Fie, oh ! quite out of breath, and spent !" 
As the aged and infirm actor uttered the words, " I am 
old novo" some one among the spectators, equally devoid of 
good taste and good feeling, began a laugh, in which he 
was joined by the unthinking part of the audience. 

Mr. Sheridan was present with his daughter in the boxes, 
and could not refrain from an almost audible expression of 
generous indignation. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 83 

experiencing from her sister, Mrs. Fish, or any 
other member of the family. In order to pro- 
mote the success of the undertaking, Mrs. She- 
ridan sent her own three children (the eldest 
not seven), and prevailed on her husband's sis- 
ters, Mrs. Sheen, Mrs. Knowles, and also her 
friend Mrs. Cunningham, whom I have for- 
merly mentioned, and others, to send theirs. 
Thus favoured, young Whyte had a handsome 
show of pupils on first opening his school : but 
the children of Mr. Sheridan were soon obliged 
to be withdrawn, on account of the change in 
their arrangements, which caused their removal 
to England. On this occasion, Charles Francis 
accompanied his parents ; and it not being pos- 
sible, from the situation of Mr. Sheridan's 
affairs at that time, to take all the children, 
Richard Brinsley and Alicia were left with their 
nurse, under the superintendance of a relation 
(William Sheridan), at Quilca, After a time it 
was thought advisable to remove Ihem to Dub- 
lin, where they lived in their father's house, 
under the care of their aunt Mrs. Knowles, 

g 2 



84 MEMOIRS OF 

who with her husband resided there. They 
went as day-scholars to Mr. Whyte's; and after- 
wards, on account of the inconvenient distance 
between Mr. Sheridan's house and Whyte's, 
became boarders.* 

* Thus it appears they were not left " in the care of 
Mr. Whyte." — Memoirs of the Public and Private Life of 
the Right Honourable Richard Brinsley Sheridan, vol. i, 
p. 103. 

As this gentleman is quoted in the preface to Dr. Watkins's 
" Memoirs," as the sole authority by " whose suggestion, 
and by virtue of whose communications the history of Mr. 
Sheridan and his family was originally projected," it is fair 
to state the relationship in which he stood with regard to 
them, and also the opportunities he had of knowledge with 
respect to the late Richard Brinsley Sheridan. 

The late Mr. Whyte's father was Solomon Whyte, uncle 
to Mrs. Sheridan ; and from thence Whyte had certainly a 
right to expect, and even solicit, but not to demand the kind- 
ness she invariably shewed him : for had he possessed any 
legal title to the name, the estates of Solomon Whyte could 
not have gone, as they did, to Mr. Richard Chamberlaine, 
Mrs. Sheridan's elder brother. 

Mr. Whyte, who was left but slenderly provided for, 
went to Dublin to adopt some plan for his future support. 
ITow warmly his kind friend exerted herself for him on this 

occasion* 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 85 

On the removal of Mr. and Mrs. Sheridan to 
London in 1758, they settled in Henrietta 

occasion, has been acknowledged by his family, where it is 
said — 

" He still bore in mind the obligations he owed to Mrs 
Sheridan, toho "was the friend and parent of his youth? — 
Whyte's Miscellanies. 

By the advice and with the assistance of Mr. Sheridan, 
Mr. Whyte opened a school, where teaching English gram- 
matically was the principal object. 

About a year and a half after their removal to England, 
Mr. and Mrs. Sheridan sent for their children ; and from 
that period Mr. Whyte never had any intercourse with 
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, who was at the time of leaving 
his school little more than seven years of age. 

In page 158 of the Memoirs, it is said, " When Mrs. 
Sheridan committed her sons to the care of her cousin, she 
recommended to him the exercise of patience in his arduous 
profession ; and observed, that she had brought him 
subjects for the trial of that virtue : "for these boys" 
continued she, " will be your tutors in this respect. I have 
been their only instructor, and they have sufficiently exer- 
cised mine : for tiioo such impenetrable dunces I never met 
with." 

Now " these boys" that were to exercise the patience of 

Mr. Samuel Whyte, " her cousin" were Richard Brinsley 

G 3 and 



86 MEMOIRS OF 

Street, Covent Garden : where Mrs. Sheridan's 
agreeable qualities and conversation soon drew 
around her an ingenious and distinguished circle 
of friends, among whom might be reckoned Dr. 
Young, Dr. Johnson, Mr. Whately, General 
Frazer, Mr. Archibald Frazer, Mr. Wedder- 
burne, afterwards Lord Loughborough, Lord 
Shelburne, Mrs. Cholmondeley, Mrs. Peckhard, 
and Samuel Richardson. With Richardson, to 
whom she had been first introduced in Hunting- 
donshire, Mrs, Sheridan had frequent opportu- 
nities of conversing, both at her own house and 
at Parson's Green : and it was in consequence 

and Alicia, afterwards Mrs. Lefanu, of Dublin : for Charles 
Francis, as we have already seen, accompanied his parents 
whithersoever they went. It is unlucky that this single fact 
overthrows the whole story, and renders unnecessary the 
concluding inference : 

" At this time the subject of these memoirs was in his 
seventh year. And though the remark of the mother was not 
confirmed by subsequent evidence of an incapacity for learning, 
the story is at least a proof of constitutional indolence." — 
Memoirs of the Public and Private Life of the Right Honour- 
able R. B. Sheridan, by Dr. Watkins. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 87 

of the admiration he expressed upon the peru- 
sal of her manuscript novel, Eugenia and Ade- 
laide, that she was first encouraged to try her 
powers in a work of higher importance and 
greater length* 

While fortune smiled, Mrs. Sheridan had felt 
no inclination to court the favour of the public 
as a writer, and cheerfully sacrificed the gratifi- 
cation of vanity, which she might have obtained 
as the possessor of distinguished talents, to the 
duties and avocations to which, as a wife and 
a mother, she was more particularly called to 
attend. But on a reverse of circumstances, 
she could not but have felt pleasure on finding 
the riches and resources of her mind readily 
acknowledged and justly appreciated by Mr. 
Richardson, who at that time deservedly stood 
at the head of that species of literature he may 
be said to have almost created. 

All her husband's friends Mrs. Sheridan wel- 
comed with sincerity to her plain table, and, not 
having a particle of vanity or false pride in her 
g4 



88 MEMOIRS OF 

disposition, cheerfully accommodated herself to 
the alteration in her husband's circumstances, 
even to the personal superintendance of every 
minutiae of housewifery : and to those who deem 
the cultivation of literature incompatible with 
the duties more exclusively appropriated to the 
female sex, it may not be uninstructive to 
remark, that the authoress of some of the most 
admired productions of her time, was also 
acknowledged to excel in every branch of do- 
mestic economy. 

While residing in Henrietta Street, Covent 
Garden, Mrs. Sheridan gave birth to a daugh- 
ter, the last of her children, and the only one 
of them born in England. This daughter was 
baptized by the names of Anne Elizabeth. The 
former name was given in compliment to Anne, 
daughter of Samuel Richardson, afterwards 
married to Mr. Ditcher, surgeon of Bath. The 
Rev. Dr. Markham, afterwards Archbishop of 
York, stood godfather to this child of Mrs. She- 
ridan's. At the period of its birth, Mrs. She- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 89 

ridan had, with her, Miss Pennington, a young 
lady who had conceived for her, some time 
before, a strong and lasting attachment. She 
was the daugher of Lady Pennington, au- 
thor of a volume of letters on the subject 
of Education ; but was at this time her own 
mistress, and possessed of a considerable for- 
tune. The introduction, which first took place 
in the country, was followed up by a lively and 
mutual tenderness, which at first proved to 
Mrs. Sheridan a source of exquisite pleasure, 
and afterwards of unavailing regret. 

The female heart, when devoted to conjugal 
affection, is sometimes observed to be compara- 
tively cold to other claims : but Mrs. Sheridan 
formed an exception to this remark, and pos- 
sessed a warmth and kindliness of manner, par- 
ticularly calculated for inspiring and requiting 
friendship.* 

* With what energy does she express this sentiment in 
the following passage of " Sidney Biddulph !" 

" I have regretted nothing so much in my absence from 
Arnold Abbey as the being cut off from the hope of seeing 

my 



90 MEMOIRS OF 

When Mrs. Sheridan settled in London, Miss 
Pennington followed her thither, and intro- 
duced herself in a manner that precluded all 
denial. She said, " I am come to take up my 
abode with you, for I find it impossible to live 
without you. You may shut your doors against 
me, but otherwise you will find it impossible to 
get rid of me." Mrs. Sheridan accepted, with 
a return of affection equal to her own, the 
advances of this amiable, warm-hearted being, 
who thus gave herself to her friend ; and from 
that moment they occupied one house, as before 
they had shared the same inclinations, tastes, 
and wishes. Sweet promise of a compensation, 
that was to console Mrs. Sheridan for the afflic- 
tions and privations she had hitherto under- 

my amiable Mrs. Vere. We can have but one friend to 
share our heart, to whom we have no reserve, and 
whose loss is irreparable ; but I perceive the absence of a 
pleasing acquaintance, whose society is no further necessary 
than as it contributes to enliven solitude, and gets a prefe- 
rence to others, merely by comparison. Still this is a loss 
easily supplied, as I find by experience. There are Mrs. 
Veres every where ; but, alas ! there is but one Cecilia !" 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 91 

gone ! Little did she foresee how soon it was 
to be blasted. 

Miss Pennington's health being attacked, she 
became desirous of visiting Bath ; and Mrs. 
Sheridan (now become her inseparable friend) 
accompanied her thither. This was on Miss 
Pennington's part a fatal step : for, her com- 
plaints being of a feverish nature, the waters 
were totally unsuited to her case. She soon 
experienced the ill consequences of having 
made the trial, and returned with Mrs, Sheridan 
to London, in a worse state of health than she 
left it. She lingered some time, during which 
Mrs. Sheridan attended her with fond but una- 
vailing affection. Miss Pennington died in the 
arms of her friend, who never, during the few 
remaining years of her short but valuable life, 
lost the remembrance of her virtues. 

During her life- time Miss Pennington had 
expressed an intention of benefiting the child 
Anne Elizabeth, who was born while she was 
with Mrs. Sheridan : but not foreseeing her end 
was so near, she left no testamentary notice of 



92 MEMOIRS OF 

her wishes upon this subject. Would it had 
been the only instance of ill-fortune that 
daughter had to experience ! Miss Penning- 
ton dying under Mrs, Sheridan's roof, her 
heirs made a visit, in order to receive such 
plate and other valuables as their deceased 
relative might have had in use while living with 
her friend. At the same time, as a testimony 
of their sense of Mrs. Sheridan's affectionate 
and unremitting attentions, they requested her 
to select, from among the property left behind, 
a piece of plate, to keep as a memorial of her. 
Mrs. Sheridan, with the high-minded simpli- 
city and disinterestedness of grief, yet adher- 
ing to the request to the letter, made choice 
of Miss Pennington's thimble — a selection in 
which the heirs rigidly acquiesced ! After Mrs. 
Sheridan's death, another memorial of her 
lamented friend was found among her property : 
it was a crystal heart surrounded with golden 
rays, and enclosing a lock of hair. Within the 
paper which enfolded it were inscribed the 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 93 

words " Poor Penny's hair." And beneath 

them this couplet from Pope — 

" Oh, name for ever sad ! for ever dear ! 

Still breath'd in sighs, still usher'd with a tear." 

Not to break in upon the narration of this 
interesting part of Mrs. Sheridan's life, I have 
postponed the mention of two acquaintances 
which must be dated from her ill-starred jour- 
ney to Bath. The one was Mrs. Scott, sister 
to Mrs. Montagu : a woman of very uncommon 
abilities, and, though now less generally known, 
a much more voluminous writer than her bril- 
liant and celebrated sister. 

This lady, who married George Lewis Scott, 
Member of the Royal Society, and Sub-preceptor 
for the Latin language to his late Majesty, is 
described as an excellent historian, and a woman 
of great acquirements, extraordinary memory, 
and strong sense. In every relation of life a 
person of exemplary conduct, of sound prin- 
ciples, enlivened by the warmest sense of reli- 
gion, and of a charity so unbounded, so totally 
regardless of herself, as to be almost excessive 



94> MEMOIRS OF 

and indiscriminate. Yet all these perfections 
were, it seems, insufficient to retain the affec- 
tion of Mr. Scott, from whom she parted early 
in their marriage, and afterwards lived with 
her friend Lady Barbara Montagu, sister of 
Lord Halifax. Her intercourse with the world 
was various and extensive, and there were few 
literary people of her day with whom she had 
not either an acquaintance or a correspondence. 
With such a companion Mrs. Sheridan must 
have passed many agreeable hours ; and Mr. 
Sheridan had a singular esteem for this lady. 
Mrs. Scott is the sister so often mentioned in 
the Letters of Mrs. Montagu by the affection- 
ately playful name of " Pea," from the great 
similarity that subsisted between them in their 
youth. She is said also to have rivalled Mrs. 
Montagu in epistolary excellence : but she 
ordered all her letters to be burnt ; and burnt 
works are apt to excite a degree of regret and 
enthusiasm, which their production might very 
probably dissipate, as we generally preserve 
what is worth preserving. Be her epistolary 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 95 

talents what they might, her numerous publi- 
cations, both fictitious and historical,* attest at 
once Mrs. Scott's industry and talent; and 
perhaps she only required the rays of fortune 
and fashion, to be as much admired as the 
brilliant defender of Shakespeare, and anta- 
gonist of Voltaire. 

Another female historian and novelist of 
Mrs. Sheridan's acquaintance was Sarah Field- 
ing, well known as the sister of the celebrated 
Henry Fielding. She occupied a small house 
situated between Bath and Bath Easton, where 
Mrs. Sheridan frequently visited her. Her 
company was much courted, and she spent a 
good deal of time at the house of Allen, of 
Prior Park. This man, who by merit and good 
conduct had, from the humble situation of a 

* She was the author of the " History of GustavusErricson, 
King of Sweden, with an introductory History of Sweden, 
from the middle of the twelfth century." " History of 
Mecklenburgh ;" " Life of Theodore Agrippa D'Aubigne :" 
" Millenium Hall ;" " Agreeable Ugliness, or Triumph of 
the Graces !" &c. &c. &c. 



96 MEMOIRSOF 

postboy, raised himself to be the possessor of an 
estate and noble fortune, the " Allworthy" of 
Fielding's most celebrated novel, highly valued 
Sarah Fielding's acquirements and agreeable 
conversation, and allowed her a small annuity : 
but, by a strange neglect or inattention, he forgot 
to continue it to her by bequest in his will ; so 
that at his decease she was exposed to serious 
inconvenience. This conduct towards persons 
in very narrow circumstances, renders the pre- 
vious bounty rather a disadvantage on the con- 
trary, by accustoming the receivers to look 
forward to a regular resource, which, if sud- 
denly cut off, may leave them without the 
means of satisfying demands, incurred in the 
full confidence of its continuance. But though 
attracted both by the love and reciprocity of 
talent, wherever she chanced to meet it, Mrs. 
Sheridan never forgot, that though wit may 
dazzle, yet esteem is only due to benevolence 
of heart and purity of mind. Wherever those 
existed, it required neither depth of acquire- 
ment nor brilliancy of intellect to attract her 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 97 

favourable notice. She " bore her faculties 
so meekly' * that even after establishing her 
pretensions to literary talent, she continued 
(contrary to what is usually the case) a favourite 
with her own sex. No caustic raillery, or 
concealed ridicule was to be feared, by the less 
gifted female, from her lips, or from her pen. 
Her power of inspiring confidence and regard 
in the most uncultivated, was remarkable ; and 
many a warm and unsophisticated heart, to 
whose complaints she had listened, and whose 
domestic sorrows she had soothed with patient 
sweetness, bore grateful witness to her survivors, 
that the admiration and popularity which was 
soon to follow Mrs. Sheridan, never superseded 
the virtues which are peculiar to her sex, and 
which rendered her a model, whether considered 
as a wife, a mother, or a friend. 

After Miss Pennington's death, Mrs. Sheridan 
removed to Windsor, which change of scene 
must have proved very beneficial to her spirits. 

Her attention was still further called off from 

H 



98 MEMOIRS OF 

melancholy recollections by the arrival of her 
two children, Richard and Alicia.* 

Being thus settled in an agreeable retreat, 
and surrounded by the objects of her most affec- 
tionate solicitude, Mrs. Sheridan seems to have 
enjoyed a short respite from affliction, and to 
have matured her literary plans. Her heart 
had been tried by every species of calamity, 
yet after the first shock was past, instead of 
sinking under spirits overclouded with despond- 
ency, the fertility of her active fancy and the 

* Or " the boys," as Dr. Watkins calls them : - again, 
page 103, the death of Miss Pennington is mentioned as 
" an inducement" to Mrs. Sheridan, iC to send for her chil- 
dren ;" as if, but for that circumstance, she might not have 
thought of them. As the Biographer has, in general, done 
justice to Mrs. Sheridan's character, a justice which it is to 
be wished he had extended to that of her husband, it is the 
more necessary to remove any prejudice this passage might 
unintentionally create. 

The fact was, the sending for her children bore no refer- 
ence to Miss Pennington's death ; but was a step suggested 
by the maternal affection of Mrs. Sheridan, the moment the 
state of her husband's affairs put it in her power. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 99 

buoyancy of her pure and exalted mind rose 
brighter than in the happiest days of her pros- 
perity. 

" We have had a sufficient share of disap- 
pointments" (she says, in a letter that bears the 
date of this year) " patience, courage, and in- 
dustry, however, will surmount every thing." 

Mr. Sheridan was also strenuously employed 
upon bringing to perfection his system of Eng- 
lish Elocution, at the same time that his theatri- 
cal success was such as to alarm even Garrick 
on his throne. 

I am sorry that the biographer of his son 
seems to be actuated by an invariable prejudice 
against Mr. T. Sheridan, in every relation which 
he gives of his disputes with the theatrical ruler 
of the day. 

Not to advert to other passages in the " Me- 
moirs," in which Mr. Sheridan is accused of 
depreciating Garrick's genius, and selecting 
characters with an invidious design to outshine 
him, a species of conduct which Mr. Sheridan's 
h °2 



1 00 MEMOIRS OF 

spirit ever was above, we shall only notice the 
following passage : — 

" In the theatrical season of I76O, Mr. She- 
ridan engaged to play at Drury-lane, where he 
sometimes performed in the same piece with 
Garrick, whose jealousy, it is said, was excited 
by the popularity which his rival obtained, par- 
ticularly in the character of King John. That 
play, we are told, was in consequence laid aside 
by the manager, who could by no means be 
induced to renew it, even when he knew that it 
was a favourite piece with his present" (now 
his late) " Majesty, who had been pleased to 
speak highly of Sheridan's representation of 
the principal character. This, however, must 
be considered as an apocryphal tale ; for let 
the feelings of Garrick be what they would, it 
is scarcely within the limits of probability that he 
would venture to suppress what the new sove- 
reign admired." — Watkins's Memoirs, p. 105. 

Why is it not within the limits of probability 
that a stop should be put to the progress of a 
rival in royal approbation, by a man who has 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 101 

been thus characterized by Arthur Murphy, his 
contemporary, a popular and successful dramatic 
writer, and one who certainly, whatever tempo- 
rary vexations Garrick might have caused him, 
had not so much reason to complain of his con- 
duct as Mr. Sheridan. 

" The misfortune of Garrick was, that he 
never had due confidence in his own talents. 
His love of fame was unbounded, but it was 
tremblingly alive all o'er. He lived in a whis- 
pering gallery, always listening and anxious 
about himself. Upon such a disposition, they 
who lacquied after him could make what im- 
pression they pleased. A word was sufficient. 
He took fire at the slightest hint ; and they, 
who had sinister purposes to answer, saw the 
avenues, by which they were to approach him. 

" By the arts of such men, he, who might 
always have been at ease, and who, by his 
talents deserved to be so, was ever involved 
in little disputes and jealousies that made him 
unhappy through life,"* 

* Preface to Murphy's Works. 
H 3 



102 MEMOIRS OF 

This character is completely confirmed by 
his Biographer and admirer Davies, from 
whose work numerous passages might be 
cited, in which he admits that the great 
abilities of Garrick did not exempt him from 
jealousy and envy. 

Now to a man thus " tremblingly alive all 
o'er " to fame, who lived thus " in a whisper- 
ing gallery," we may conceive what must be 
the effect of the royal approbation of King 
John, which part Mr. Sheridan undertook at 
Garrick's own request, under the following 
circumstances. In the theatrical phrase, the 
play was cast for Garrick to perform the cha- 
racter of King John, and Mr. Sheridan Faulcon- 
bridge. Before the representation, however, Gar- 
rick came to Sheridan and said, " I don't know 
what to do with this character of King John. It 
is a heavy declamatory part, not at all in my way 
— I am sure you could make a great deal more 
of it, and you would greatly oblige me by 
exchanging characters " To this Mr. Sheridan 
was very averse ; but by the continued solici- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 103 

tation of the manager, he was prevailed on at 
length to take the part of King John, of which 
" he made so much " that the play was acted 
several nights successively with great applause, 
and being honoured by a command, it was 
reported the next day that the King had 
mentioned Mr. Sheridan's performance, in 
terms of the highest approbation, at the Levee. 
To this Garrick listened with evident impatience 
and uneasiness, and at length interrupted his in- 
formant with " Eh, eh ! and what did he say 
of Faulconbridge ?" To this his acquaintance 
could only reply that the King said, "He did 
not like the character." 

Such a mortification it was beyond the irri- 
table sensibility of Garrick to endure. His re- 
solution was formed in an instant, and though 
the boxes were taken for King John several 
nights successively, he would never afterwards 
permit the play to be acted. 

Such is the real account (in every material 
particular confirmed by Davies the Biographer 
of Garrick) of this theatrical transaction. 

h 4 



104 MEMOIRS OF 

Davies was certainly no way partial to Mr. 
Sheridan, nor disposed to exalt his merit by 
unduly depreciating that of Garrick. Yet, in 
another place, he justly observes, that " admi- 
rably suited as the flexibility of Garrick's 
powers was to all the various passions of the 
human heart, his voice wanted that fulness of 
sound requisite to the delivery of a long decla- 
matory speech, or to give force and dignity to 
mere sentiment." 

But in considering King John as a merely 
declamatory part, Garrick forgot the oppor- 
tunity afforded for the display of conflicting 
passions in the scene with Hubert in the third 
act, an opportunity so admirably improved by 
Mr. Sheridan, that even Churchill in his Ros- 
ciad could not withhold from him his warmest 
approbation. The dying scene in the last act 
was also allowed in the performance to be the 
masterpiece of Sheridan, as in the writing it is 
the masterpiece of Shakespeare. There is 
nothing similar to it in the Drama, except, per- 
haps, the " Valentinian" of Fletcher ; and there 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 103 

the bad effect of that exaggerating principle is 
perceptible, by which, in endeavouring to in- 
crease a thousand-fold the sufferings of the 
dying monarch, and thus by dint of words to 
outdo the great model left him by Shakespeare, 
Fletcher, instead of surpassing him, falls far 
below the power of his simple but great ori- 
ginal. 

When Mr. Sheridan performed King John in 
Ireland, some old ladies observed, " that in the 
dying scene it was quite prophane of him to 
imitate Nature so exactly."* 

* Notwithstanding Mrs. Inchbald's histrionic doubts, ac- 
cording to the concurrent testimony of all his contempora- 
ries, the theatrical talents of Garrick were wonderful, his 
literary powers respectable, and he was certainly possessed 
of many private virtues. But let us not for that reason be 
unjust to the memory of a man, whom many opposed to 
him as his rival in talent, and who certainly surpassed him 
in moral worth, and open, manly firmness and sincerity of 
character. Davies himself says, " Mr. Sheridan had been 
long esteemed a man of eminence in his profession," and 
adds that critics did not scruple to compare, nay prefer, 
Sheridan's performance of Richard, Hamlet, and Macbeth* 

to 



106 MEMOIRS OF 

Dr. Watkins adds : "Bat in reality the rea- 
son for suspending the performance of King 

to the other's utmost efforts in those parts : he then con- 
tinues, " but indeed the Manager's own jealousy justified 
the public good opinion of Mr. Sheridan's ability ; but Gar- 
rick's ruling passion was the love of fame; and his un- 
easiness, arising from the success of Sheridan, began every 
day to be more and more visible." Notwithstanding his 
nice critical taste and extensive theatrical experience, 
Garrick was sometimes liable to be mistaken, and some- 
times influenced by jealousy to keep out of public view 
the merits of even female performers. He assured the 
celebrated Mrs. Barry that she had no genius for Tragedy, 
and advised her as a friend to give up all thoughts of the 
stage as a profession. Returning home, much dispirited, in 
consequence of this decision, Mrs. Barry accidentally com- 
municated it to Mr. Whately, who proposed taking her to 
Mr. Sheridan to have his unbiassed opinion. Mi\ Sheridan 
immediately perceived that she possessed tragic powers of 
the first order, but that she wanted confidence in herself 
and usage of the stage. He therefore strongly advised her 
to practise in the country, before she ventured again to 
encounter the critical audience of a metropolis ; after which 
he entertained no doubt of her ultimate success. Mrs. 
Barry profited by his advice, and eventfully justified his 
prediction, as she afterwards became one of the most bril- 
liant ornaments of the stage. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 107 

John, was one of a very different kind, and in 
which the interests of Sheridan were principally 
consulted. This was the introduction of the 
tragedy of the Earl of Essex, written by Mr. 
Henry Brooke,* and originally brought out 
with some alterations on the Dublin stage by 
Mr. Sheridan, who then represented the capital 
character with great applause." 

Now the fact is, it was written by Banks, 
altered by Brooke, and finally retouched by 
Mr. Sheridan.. The celebrated Bucentaur does 
not appear to have gone through a greater 
number of reparations than this tragedy. It 
was originally written by Banks, and entitled 
" The Unhappy Favorite." The situations being 
affecting, but the language a strange mixture 
of meanness and bombast, it was altered by a 
Mr. James Ralph, and new-named " The Fall 
of Essex." Being deemed capable of still fur- 
ther improvement, the whole was composed 
anew by Jones and Brooke, and denominated 
" The Earl of Essex," which name, it is to be 

* Author of the Fool of Quality. 



108 MEMOIRS OF 

hoped, it will be permitted to retain. Mr. Brooke 
attended chiefly to the improvement of the situa- 
tions of the play, and Jones to the harmony of 
the language. Mr. Brooke's alteration was the 
one adopted by Mr. Sheridan (who was his 
cousin) ; and old Benjamin Victor thus writes 
of it in his inimitable phraseology : 

" The tragedy of the Earl of Essex, new- 
written by Mr. Brooke, was brought to the stage 
and performed with great applause. The plan 
of the first author, Banks, being universally 
approved, was preserved by Mr. Brooke, who 
made no alteration, but in the last act where 
Essex and Southampton are going to execution, 
which proved an agreeable incident." 

To return to the literary employments of Mrs. 
Sheridan. Although in composing the novel of 
" Sidney Biddulph," she considered Richard- 
son as her master, she had the good sense and 
judgment to be conscious of his defects j and, 
observing upon the unreasonable length of his 
productions, made this poignant remark —that 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 109 

" In the novels of Richardson, the Bookseller 
got the better of the Author." 

As nothing is more uncertain than literary 
success, Mrs. Sheridan, unwilling that any hopes 
raised in the partial mind of her husband from 
the merit of the progressive work, should be 
blighted, did not communicate any portion of 
it to him, either by reading or conversation, 
till the whole was completed. 

It was her custom to write with a small trunk 
or chest placed beside her, into which she put 
her manuscript, if Mr. Sheridan chanced to 
enter the room while she was thus employed. 

He knew that she was engaged on a work 
from which she expected benefit to her family ; 
but as Mrs. Sheridan forbore to explain it, he 
avoided on his part making any enquiries : so 
that he was literally ignorant of the subject of 
the work until it was brought to a conclusion. 



110 MEMOIRS OF 



CHAPTER V. 

Sidney Biddulph — Successful in France.— Abbe Prevost — 

Dramatized in France. — L'Habitant de la Guadaloupe 

Curious Note annexed to the French edition of Sidney 
Biddulph. — Different Judgments passed upon it. — Dr. 
Johnson Mrs. Barbauld Dr. Parr. — Mr. Fox. — Cri- 
tique on Sidney Biddulph. — Smollett. — Sidney presented 
under a new point of View. — A Work of Humour as 
well as Pathos. — Selections from Sidney Biddulph. 

At length the doubts and fears of the author 
were dispelled in a manner the most flattering 
to her feelings. The " Memoirs of Miss Sid- 
ney Biddulph" were published, March I76I, 
and the book became an immediate and perma- 
nent favourite. 

Notwithstanding the high praise bestowed by 
Richardson on her " Eugenia and Adelaide," 
it is but justice to observe, that bright and aus- 
picious dawn of fame scarcely taught her to 
expect the full and steady radiance which after- 
wards distinguished her meridian celebrity. 

In that juvenile performance, " Love, only 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. Ill 

Love," inspired the rich, romantic page, 
whether it dwelt upon the fully delineated suf- 
ferings of Adelaide and Eugenia, or the episo- 
dical sketches of Clara and Raphael, Cynthia, 
Violante, and Isidore. Though the adventures 
and surprises were varied and interesting, the 
moral improvement was not proportionably 
great. 

In Sidney Biddulph, the offspring of her 
maturer years, on the contrary, Love was re- 
duced to his subordinate place, and made sub- 
servient to the triumph of wedded constancy, 
and the exercise of the domestic duties and 
affections. 

The reception of her novel in France was 
equally gratifying to the feelings of Mrs. Sheri- 
dan. A translation immediately appeared under 
the title of " Memoires d'une Jeune Dame," 
by the Abbe Prevost, the translator of Richard- 
son's works, and author of " Cleveland," and 
several other interesting and popular perform- 
ances. This faithful and elegant version the 
Abbe transmitted to Mrs. Sheridan, accompanied 



112 MEMOIRS OF 

by a letter conceived in terms the most highly 
complimentary. * 

A part of Sidney Biddulph was also brought 
upon the stage. The story was taken from the 
passage describing the unexpected return of 
Warner, the West Indian, and the piece was 
entitled " 1/ Habitant de la Guadeloupe." The 
adaptation was very successful, and became as 
popular in France as the Opera taken from 
" Tom Jones," or " Tome Jaune," to accom- 
modate it to the rules of gallic orthoepy. 

In England, though it has at length been in 
some measure superseded by more modern 
favourites, " Sidney Biddulph" continued for 
a succession of years to be read and admired 
by all persons of true taste ; among the number 
of those who have expressed themselves in the 

* In this translation a curious note occurs. In describing 
the inhospitable reception she met with at Lady Sarah Bid- 
dulph's, Sidney mentions waiting in a room which " having 
been netvly washed, felt extremely cold." Upon this circum- 
stance the editor remarks, " according to the detestable 
custom of the English." 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 113 

highest terms upon its merits, I need only 
adduce the illustrious names of the late Charles 
James Fox and Dr, Samuel Parr. 

Among Mrs. Sheridan's contemporaries, none 
admired her novel more warmly than Dr. John- 
son, whose compliment to her upon its publi- 
cation has been more frequently repeated than 
any other. " I know not, Madam ! that you 
have a right, upon moral principles, to make 
your readers suffer so much."* 

This compliment of Dr. Johnson's was first 
given by Mr. Bos well, in his " Life " of that 
great man, and afterwards recorded, without 
variation or addition, by Mrs. Barbauld in her 
" Life and Correspondence of Samuel Richard- 
son." 

It is to be regretted, that a lady of Mrs. 
Barbauld's taste, and unquestionable discrimi- 

* Perhaps the Doctor had in his mind the well-known 
story of the Greek poet, Phrynichus, who w&sjined by the 
sensitive Athenians for exhibiting before them a tragedy 
which affected them too much. They would have shewn 
more true feeling, by remitting the fine to the poor poet ! 

I 



114 MEMOIRS OF 

nation, should not have qualified it by some 
additional remark on a work so diversified as 
" Sidney Biddulph." 

As it stands, the observation of Dr. Johnson 
includes but half its praise, and might convey 
to the minds of some readers an erroneous 
impression ; for the fact is, that humour, as well 
as pathos, forms a leading quality in the novel 
of " Sidney Biddulph." Before I conclude the 
subject, I shall add one or two extracts from 
the work in confirmation of this remark. 

An old master of the art* has aptly defined 
a novel to be " a large diffused picture, com- 
prehending the characters of life, disposed in 
different groups, and exhibited in various atti- 
tudes, for the purposes of a uniform plan and 
general concurrence, to which every individual 
figure is subservient." He adds — 

" But this plan cannot be executed with 
propriety, probability, or success, without a 
principal person to attract the attention, unite 
the incidents, unwind the clue of the labyrinth, 

* Smollett. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 115 

and at last close the scene by virtue of his own 
importance." 

If this definition be admitted to be correct, 
" Sidney Biddulph" may, without fear of con- 
tradiction, be pronounced to afford one of the 
best specimens of a well- written novel— the 
fable faultless — the incidents well prepared— 
the characters all conducive to the catastrophe — 
and even the hero himself a personage of some 
importance to the plot. 

Orlando Faulkland, in addition to all those 
qualities which most interest and please, pos- 
sesses that rarest attribute of heroes and he- 
roines, either in or out of books, a fund of 
humour and entertainment. This greatly in- 
creases the sympathy he inspires, when that 
fine mind is for ever overclouded by cala- 
mity. 

The only defects of Faulkland's character 
are, a warm impetuosity of feeling, and an im- 
prudent hastiness of temper, the consequences 
of which he has reason to deplore to the latest 
period of his existence. 

I 2 



116 MEMOIRS OF 

Mrs. Sheridan's novel is not (like many 
otherwise excellent compositions) an enter- 
taining gallery of portraits, but of portraits 
to which the painter has assigned little employ- 
ment, or at best a forced one. Her figures, on 
the contrary, are exhibited each in the attitude 
in which their predominant humour and cha- 
racter would most naturally place them, and 
which is best calculated to elucidate the pro- 
gress of the story. 

Thus, in the character of Lady Biddulph, 
the heroine's mother, her peculiar prejudices 
and modes of thinking, are not only very effec- 
tively described and accounted for in them- 
selves, but they bear upon the story in a man- 
ner the most important, as, " had " she" been 
less stern," she would have read, or listened 
to Faulkland's justification, and all the miseries 
occasioned by her well-meaning, but provoking 
obstinacy, would have been prevented. 

While the few foibles of Lady Biddulph occa- 
sion, sometimes amusement, and sometimes 
regret, the sterling virtues of her heart com- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 117 

mand unmingled praise. We discern the supe- 
rior penetration and latent playfulness of Sid- 
ney's mind, leading her sometimes to indulge 
in a smile at the unconquerable prejudices of 
her " dear literal parent," but at the same 
time chastised by that reverential awe and 
filial deference, which at the time in which the 
events are supposed to take place,* formed the 
first principle inculcated in female education. 

The character of Sidney Biddulph, the he- 
roine, is one unfortunately almost forgotten in 
the regions of romance — That of a woman, 
young, beautiful, and engaging, of a dispo- 
sition equally removed from the extremes of 
levity or austerity — amiable without artifice, 
virtuous without prudery, and pious without 
pretension. Sidney is neither a bigot nor a 
freethinker, neither insipid nor volatile. She 
is no female philosopher, who could find in 
science or study a compensation for the disap- 
pointment of the finest affections of her heart ; 
neither is she a tall, pale, gigantic heroine, full 

* About the beginning of Queen Anne's reign, 
i 8 



118 MEMOIRS OF 

six feet high, without her stilts, whose lofty 
person is an emblem of her loftier mind, and 
each of whose maxims deserves to become a 
universal aphorism. In one word, she is — 
reader, have you lately met with such a one ? — 
unaffected. 

Simple, artless, and unpretending, 

" She frowns no goddess, and she moves no queen." 

Yet she is highly informed, possesses a culti- 
vated mind, and rich intellectual resources. 
Sidney introduces herself to the reader with 
native cheerfulness, the result of innocence, 
and tender sensibilities, corrected by delicacy. 
We enjoy, with her, the few and brief hours of 
happiness allotted to her, and sympathize with 
equal warmth in the unmerited afflictions that 
succeed them. 

The character of her brother, Sir George 
Biddulph, is so well delineated by the author, 
that it would be impossible to add a word to it 
without injury. 

" Sir George Biddulph was nine or ten 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 119 

years older than his sister. He was a man of 
a good understanding, moral as to his general 
conduct, but void of any of those refined sen- 
timents which constitute what is called deli- 
cacy. Pride is sometimes accounted laudable ; 
that which Sir George possessed (for he had 
pride) was not of this kind." 

And again, in the second part, " Sir George 
is rather apt to overdo every thing, and would 
exert as much force to remove a feather, as to 
lift an anchor.' 9 

The character of Lady Sarah Biddulph, his 
wife, is drawn with much humour and spirit ; 
and her little paltry meannesses contrast well 
with the more lofty and overbearing character 
of her lord. 

The religious sentiments interspersed through- 
out the work, breathe a strain of piety so fer- 
vent and sincere, that they cannot fail to ex- 
cite a responsive sympathy in every serious 
mind. 

The incidents and sudden turns of fortune 
are so various and surprising, that it is impos- 

i 4 



120 MEMOIRS OF 

sible for the reader, the most practised in that 
style of composition, to foresee or calculate 
upon them ; at the same time, every step, 
every event is prepared and accounted for, in 
a manner so natural, that it is difficult to resist 
the illusion which frequently recurs, that we 
are reading a real history. 

The interest never flags a moment, but on 
the contrary goes on rising, with the force of 
dramatic composition, to the closing scenes, 
which should be read in solitude, and with 
the door locked to prevent interruption ; for the 
mind hangs suspended in breathless anxiety 
upon the catastrophe, which is worked up with 
that strong, increasing, deepening, nervously 
agitating interest, that affords to the novel 
reader the most delightful exercise of the feel- 
ings of sympathy and curiosity. 

And this effect is produced without any ela- 
borate effort, any over-strained endeavours to 
rouse the passions. 

There has of late subsisted among writers 
of fiction, a kind of emulation which shall outdo 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 121 

his predecessor in terrifying and heart-rending 
delineations. So they can 

" On horror's head horrors accumulate," 

they think they have an undoubted right to 
reign triumphant over the feelings of the reader, 
and we are at every moment reminded of the 
observation of Napoleon — 

" Du sublime au ridicule il n'y a qu'un pas." 

No such exaggeration takes place in the con- 
duct of the closing scene of the first part of 
" Sidney Biddulph." 

To compare it with the " Veil" of the Gre- 
cian painter, would be a similitude too trite 
and obvious ; although such a comparison must 
occur to the mind of every reader of taste. 
This axiom in criticism, the prudent forbear- 
ance of the author may at least serve to illus- 
trate — that there is a certain point at which the 
bounds of terror and pity are — fixed ; when- 
ever those bounds are overpast, disgust and 
horror usurp their place in the mind. The 



122 MEMOIRS OF 

reader turns shuddering from the spectacle 
forced upon his view, and both the picture and 
moral are lost alike in the eager desire to forget. 

It is before arriving at that point, therefore, 
that the judicious writer ought to stop — assured 
that such well-timed reserve, instead of dimi- 
nishing, will heighten both the practical and 
poetical effect of the work. 

As an old work often possesses something of 
novelty to young readers, I shall now endeavour, 
by a brief analysis and a few extracts, to illus- 
trate the foregoing preliminary observations. 

The family of Miss Sidney Biddulph is repre- 
sented as consisting of herself, her mother, a 
widow lady, and her brother, Sir George Bid- 
dulph, who (with his sister^} is the only survivor 
of ten children. 

The history (which is carried on journal wise) 
opens with a description of the joyous reunion 
in London of these three persons so justly dear 
to each other, after Sir George Biddulph's ab- 
sence on account of his health at Spa. 

The first dialogue introduces the different 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. l c 23 

characters of the three personages sd happily, 
and renders so perfectly intelligible all that 
follows, that I give it as it was given by Sidney 
to her friend Cecilia. 

" I asked Sir George, jocosely, what he had 
brought me home ? He answered, " Perhaps a 
good husband." My mother caught up the 
word, " What do you mean, son ?" — " I mean, 
Madam, that there is come over with me a gen- 
tleman, with whom I became acquainted in 
Germany, who of all the men I ever knew, I 
would wish to have for a brother. If Sidney 
should fortunately be born under the influence 
of uncommonly good stars, it may happen to be 
brought about. I can tell you (applying him- 
self to me) he is prepossessed in your favour 
already ; I have shewn him some of your letters, 
and he thinks you a good sensible girl. I told 
him you were very well in your person, and 
that you have had an excellent education." 
* I hope so," said my mother, looking pleased ; 
" and what have you to tell us of this wonderful 
man that so surpasses every body ?" " Why, 



124 MEMOIRS OF 

Madam, for your part of his character, he is one 
of the best young men I ever saw. I never 
knew any body equal to him for sobriety, nor 
so entirely free from all the vices of youth ; as 
I lived in the same house with him for some 
months, I had frequent opportunities of making 
my observations." 

" An admirable character, indeed," said my 
mother. " So thought I too ; but I wanted to 
know a little more of him. Now, Sidney, for 
your share in the description ; I must tell you 
he is most exquisitely handsome, and extremely 
sensible." 

" Good sense, to be sure, is requisite," said 
my mother, " but as for beauty, it is but a 
fading flower at best, and in a man not at all 
necessary." — " A man is not the worse for it, 
however," cried my brother. — " No ;" my 
mother answered, " provided it does not make 
him vain, and too fond of the admiration of 
giddy girls." — " That, I will be sworn, is not 
the case of my friend," answered Sir George ; 
" I believe nobody with such a person as his 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 125 

(if there can be such another) would be so 
little vain of it ; nay, I have heard him declare, 
that even in a woman he would give the prefer- 
ence to sense and virtue." 

" Good young man," cried my mother ; 
" I should like to he acquainted with him." — 
(" So should I," whispered I to my own heart.) 

" Well, brother," said I, " you have drawn 
a good picture ; but to make it complete, you 
must throw in generosity, valour, sweetness of 
temper, and a great deal of money." — " Fie, 
my dear, (said my good literal parent) a great 
deal is not necessary ; a very moderate fortune 
with such a man is sufficient." 

" The good qualities you require in the 
finishing of my piece," answered my brother, 
he possesses in an eminent degree — will that 
satisfy you ? As for his fortune, there, perhaps, 
a difficulty may step in : what estate, madam, 
(to my mother) do you think my sister's for- 
tune may entitle her to ?" 

" Dear brother," I cried, " pray do not 
speak in that bargaining way." 



126 MEMOIRS OF 

My mother answered him very gravely, 
" your father, you know, left her but four 
thousand pounds \ it is in my power to add a 
little to it, if she marries to please me. Great 
matters we have no right to expect ; but a 
very good girl, as my daughter is, I think de- 
serves more than a bare equivalent." — " The 
equality," said my brother, with a demure 
look, " I fear is out of all proportion here, 
for the gentlemen I speak of has but— six 
thousand pounds a year. 

He burst out a laughiug ; it was not good- 
natured and I was vexed at his joke. My poor 
mother dropped her countenance ; I looked 
silly, as if I had been disappointed, but I said 
nothing. 

" Then he is above our reach, Sidney," an- 
swered my mother. 

I made no reply — " Have a good heart, Sid," 
cried my brother ; if my nonpareil likes you, 
when he sees you, (I felt myself hurt, and 
grew red) and without a compliment, sister, 
(seeing me look mortified), I think he will, 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 127 

fortune will be no objection. I have already 
told him the utmost of your expectations ; he 
would hardly let me mention the subject. He 
has a mind for my sister, and if he finds her 
personal accomplishments answer a brother's 
(perhaps partial) description, it will be your 
own fault, if you have not the prettiest fellow 
in England for your husband." 

In this short scene the peculiarities of the 
three different personages are at once brought 
into play. The bluntness and want of deli- 
cacy of Sir George, the plain literal under- 
standing and maternal affection of Lady Bid- 
dulph, and the modest sweetness of Sidney 
appear in strong contrast. 

Sidney further learns from her brother that 
his friend, who was gone to Bath for a few 
weeks, had commissioned Sir George to take 
a house in his own neighbourhood for him, 
in St. James's Square. " The name of this 
piece of perfection (she continues) is Faulk- 
lank — Orlando Faulkland." Upon cross-exa- 
mining Sir George, however, it appears that he 



128 MEMOIRS OF 

is no faultless mirror of insipid excellence. He 
seems made up of contrarieties. 

" Nature," says Sir George, " never formed 
a temper so gentle, so humane, so benevolent 
as his ; yet when provoked, no tempest is more 
furious. You would imagine him so humble, 
that he thinks every one superior to himself; 
yet through this disguise have I discovered at 
certain times, a pride which makes him look 
down on all mankind. With a disposition 
formed to relish, and a heart attached to the 
domestic pleasures of life, he is of so enter- 
prizing a temper, that dangers and difficulties 
rather encourage than dishearten him in the 
pursuit of a favourite point. His ideas of love, 
honour, generosity, and gratitude, are so re- 
fined, that no hero in romance ever went 
beyond him. The modesty and affability of 
his deportment make every body fancy, when 
he is in company with them, that he is de- 
lighted with their conversation ; nay, he often 
affects to be improved and informed ; yet there 
is a sly turn to ridicule in him, which, though 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 129 

without the least tincture of ill-nature, makes 
him see and represent things in a light the very 
opposite of that in which you fancied he saw 
them. With the nicest discernment when he 
permits his judgment alone to determine, let 
passion interfere, and a child can impose on him. 
Though very handsome, he affects to despise 
beauty in his own sex ; yet is it easy to perceive, 
by the nice care he takes in his dress, that he 
does not altogether disregard it in his own 
person.' * 

At length Orlando arrives. In person, man- 
ners, and address, he fully answers to Sir George's 
description : a description, how r ever, which in- 
cluded strong lights and shades ; and which, 
therefore, prepares the reader for the variety 
and vicissitudes of his fortune. 

We soon find him Sidney's declared lover ; 
and yet Sidney confesses that she has discovered 
in him some of those little (and they are but 
little) alloys to his many good qualities men- 
tioned by Sir George. " There is that sly turn 
for ridicule which my brother observed in 

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130 MEMOIRS OF 

him ; yet, to do him justice, he never employs 
it but where it is deserved ; and then, too, with 
so much vivacity and good-humour that one 
cannot be angry with him," 

Of this she gives the following lively example* 
" We had a good deal of company at dinner 
with us to-day ; amongst the rest young Sayers, 
who is returned from his travels, as he calls it. 
You remember he went away a good-humoured, 
inoffensive, quiet fool ; he has brought no one 
ingredient of that character back with him but 
the last ; for such a stiff, conceited, overbearing, 
talkative, impertinent coxcomb, does not exist. 
His mother, who, poor woman, you know, made 
a simpleton of the boy, contributes now all in 
her power to finish the fop ; and she carries 
him about with her every where for a show. 
We were assembled in the drawing-room before 
dinner; in burst (for it was not a common 
entry) master Sayers and his mamma, the cub 
handing in the old lady ; so stiff, and so auk- 
ward, and so ungraceful, and so very unlike 
Mr. Faukland, that I pitied the poor thing, who 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 131 

thought every body would admire him as much 
as his mother did. After he had been presented 
to the ladies (for it was the first time we had 
seen him since he came home), he took a turn 
or two about the room to exhibit his person ; 
then applying himself to a picture that hung 
over the door (a fine landscape of Claude 
Lorrain, which Mr. Faulkland himself had 
brought over and given to Sir George), he asked 
my brother, in a tone scarcely articulate, whe- 
ther we had any 'painters in England ? My mo- 
ther, who by chance heard him, and by greater 
chance understood him, answered, before Sir 
George had time, ' Painters, Sir ! yes, sure, and 
some very good ones too ; why you cannot have 
forgot that ; it is not much above a year since 
you went abroad' (for you must know he had 
been recalled upon the death of an uncle, who 
had left him his estate). I observed Mr. Faulk- 
land constrained a sly laugh, on account both 
of the manner of my mother's taking his ques- 
tion, and her innocently undesigned reprimand. 
Sayers pretended not to hear her, but looking 
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\3<& MEMOIRS OF 

through his fingers, as if to throw the picture 
into perspective, * that is a pretty good piece/ 
said he, 'for a copy.' * Oh !' cried his mother, 
* there is no pleasing you ; people who have 
been abroad are such connoisseurs in painting !* 
Nobody making an immediate answer, Mr. 
Faukland stepped up to Mr. Sayers, and with 
such a roguish humility in his countenance, that 
you would have sworn he was a very ignoramus, 
said ' Are you of opinion, Sir, that that picture 
is nothing but a copy ?' ' Nothing more, take 
my word for it, Sir. When I was at Rome, 
there was a Dutchman there who made it his 
business to take copies of copies, which he dis- 
persed, and had people to sell for him in diffe- 
rent parts, at pretty good prices ; and they did 
mighty well, for very few people know a pic- 
ture ; and I'll answer for it there are not many 
masters of eminence but what have a hundred 
originals palmed upon them, more than ever 
they painted in their lives.' 

" Mr. Faulkland then proceeded to ask him 
abundance of questions, which any one who did 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 133 

not know him, would have thought he proposed 
for no other end but a desire of information ; 
and the poor coxcomb Sayers plumed himself 
upon displaying so much travelled knowledge 
to a wondering ignorant Englishman, who had 
never been out of his own country. The com- 
pany were divided into little chatting parties, 
as is usual when people are whiling away half 
an hour before dinner. Mrs. Sayers, my mo- 
ther, and I, were sitting together on a couch, 
near enough to hear the conversation that 
passed between the two gentlemen ; at least as 
much as was not sunk in the affected, half pro- 
nounced sentences of Mr. Sayers. His mother, 
to whom he was the principal object of atten- 
tion in the company, seemed mightily pleased 
at the opportunity her son had, from the inqui- 
sitiveness of Mr. Faulkland (whom she did not 
know, of shewing his taste in the polite arts ; 
and often looked about to observe if any body 
else attended to them. My dear literal mother 
(as I often call her to you") took every thing 
seriously, and whispered me, * how pretty that is, 

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134 MEMOIRS OF 

Sidney ! how condescending is Mr. Faulkland ! 
You see he does not make a parade of his own 
knowledge in these matters, but is pleased to 
reap the benefit of other people's.' I, who saw 
the latent roguery, could hardly contain myself. 
Indeed I was amazed at Mr. Faulkland's grave, 
inquisitive face, and was very glad my mother 
did not find him out. 

" Sayers, elated with having shone so conspi- 
cuously (for he observed that both my mother 
and I attended to his discourse), proceeded to 
shew away with an immensity of vanity and 
frothy chat, beginning every new piece of his- 
tory with, ' when I was at Rome, or when I was 
at Paris.' At last, unluckily for him, speaking 
of an incident (which made a good deal of 
noise, and happened at the first-mentioned 
place,) in which two English gentlemen had 
been concerned, he said it was about eleven 
months ago, just before he left Rome. My 
mother, who had heard Mr.- Faulkland relate 
the same story, but with some different circum- 
stances, immediately said, « Mr. Faulkland, have 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 135 

I not beard you speak of that ? you were at 
Rome yourself when tiie affair happened; and 
if I am not mistaken, it was through your inte- 
rest with Cardinal ■ that the business was 

made up.' 

" If a spectre had appeared to poor Sayers, 
he could not have looked more aghast ; he 
dropped his visage half way down his breast, 
and for the first time speaking very plain, and 
very loud, too, with a stare of astonishment, said, 
* have you been at Rome, Sir ?' — • I was there 
for a little time/ answered Mr. Faulkland, with 
real modesty, for he pitied the mortified buz- 
zard ; 'and I know the story was represented 
as you have told it; the circumstances differed 
in a few particulars, but the facts were nearly 
as you have related them.' 

" How obligingly did he reconcile the out of- 
countenance Sayers to himself and to the com- 
pany ! ' Were you long abroad, pray Sir ? 9 said 
the coxcomb. i About ^ve years, Sir/ answered 
Mr. Faulkland ; « but I perceive by the conver- 
sation I have had the honour of holding with 

k 4 



136 MEMOIRS OF 

you to-day, that many accurate and curious ob- 
servations escaped me, which you made in a 
much shorter space of time ; for the commu- 
nication of which I think myself extremely 
obliged to you.' Whether the poor soul thought 
him serious (as my mother did), I cannot tell ; 
he made a bow, however, for the compliment, 
but was so lowered that he did not say a word 
more of Rome or Paris for the rest of the day; 
and in this we had a double advantage, for as 
he had nothing else to talk of, his mouth was 
effectually stopped, except when Mr. Faulkland, 
out of compassion, asked him (as he often did) 
such questions as he thought he could answer 
without exposing his ignorance : for he was con- 
tented to have enjoyed it in their tete-a-tete ; 
and was far from wishing the company to be 
witnesses of it. 

" I think this little incident may give you 
some idea of this man's turn. Sir George 
laughed heartily at it, and said it was so like 
him ! My brother loves even his faults, though 
he will not allow me to call them by that name." 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 137 

A short, but halcyon interval succeeds, marked 
only by the further insight Sidney gains into 
the character of Faulkland : his humanity, ge- 
nerosity, and princely magnificence. At length, 
in her own phrase, her " probation is over ;" 
the day is fixed for their union, and it is only 
deferred till all the necessary preliminaries can 
be adjusted. Just in this glow of felicity, a 
cloud is thrown over the satisfaction of the 
lovers by the indisposition of Miss Biddulph. 
It increases ; a cold neglected turns to a fever. 
All thoughts of marriage are necessarily de- 
ferred. For several days her life is in extreme 
danger. At the end of this eventful interval 
she thus resumes her journal. 

" July 27. — After a fortnight, a dreadful 
fortnight's intermission, I resume my pen. I 
have often told you, Cecilia, I was not born to 
be happy. Oh ! I prophesied when I said so, 
though I knew not why I said it. 

" I will try to recollect all the circumstances 
of this miserable interval, and relate them as 
well as I can. The last line in my journal in- 



138 MEMOIRS OF 

forms you that I was ill : I was let blood, but 
my disorder increased, and I was in a high fever 
before next morning. I remember what my 
reflections were, and am sure my apprehensions 
of death were not on my own account afflicting, 
but grievously so at the thoughts of what those 
should feel whom I was to leave behind. 

" My mother and Mr. Faulkland, I believe, 
chiefly engaged my mind ; but I did not con- 
tinue long capable of reflection. The violence 
of my disorder deprived me of my senses on the 
fourth day, and they tell me I raved of Mr. 
Faulkland. I remember nothing, but that in 
my intervals of reason I always saw my poor 
mother in tears by my bed-side. I was in the 
utmost danger: but it pleased God to restore 
me to the ardent prayers of my dear parent. In 
about ten days I began to shew some symptoms 
of amendment, and inquired how Mr. Faulk- 
land did. My mother answered, ' he is well, 
my dear, and gone out of town, but I believe 
will return in a day or two.' * Gone out of 
town,' said I, * and leave me dying ! indeed 



MRS, FRANCES SHERIDAN. 139 

that was not kind of Mr. Faulkland, and I shall 
tell him so.' My mother was sitting on the 
bed-side, and had hold of my hand ; my brother 
was standing with his back to the fire-place : 
I observed they looked at one another, but 
neither made me any answer. ' Pray, Sir 
George,' I cried, * would you serve the woman 
so whom you were so near making your wife ?' 
My brother was going to reply, but my mother 
frowned at him : he looked displeased, and went 
out of the room. * Dear madam.' said I, ' there 
is something the matter with Mr. Faulkland; 
don't keep me in suspense. I know there is 
something which you and my brother would 
conceal from me. Is Mr. Faulkland sick ?' 
< Not that I know of, I assure you,' answered 
my mother; ' he was well yesterday, for we had 
a message from him to inquire after your 
health, as we have had every day, for he is but 
at Richmond ; and you know, if he were in 
town, he could receive no other satisfaction than 
hearing from you, as you are too ill to admit of 
any visits.' My mother rang the bell imme- 



140 MEMOIRS OF 

diately, and asked me to take something ; I saw 
she wanted to turn the conversation. My maid 
Ellen came into the room, and I asked no more 
questions. 

" My mother staid with me till it was time 
for her to go to rest ; but avoided mentioning 
Mr. Faulkland's name, or giving me an oppor- 
tunity of doing it ; for she tenderly conjured 
me to keep myself quite composed, and not to 
talk. The doctor assured her this night that 
he thought me out of danger ; and she retired 
with looks of cordial delight. 

" She was no sooner gone than I called Ellen 
to my bed-side, and charged her to tell me all 
she knew concerning Mr. Faulkland. The poor 
girl looked concerned, and seemed to study for 
an answer. c Lord bless me, madam ! what 
should / know of him more than my lady has 
told you ?' * When did you see him ?' said I. 
c Not for several days,' she answered. ' Where 
is he ?' * At Richmond, I heard Sir George 
say ; but I suppose he will come to town as soon 
as he hears you are well enough to receive him.' 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 141 

I caught hold of her hand \ i Ellen, I know 
there is something relative to Mr. Faulkland 
which you all want to hide from me ; do not at- 
tempt to deceive me ; you may be sure, what- 
ever it be, I must soon be informed of it ; in 
the mean while my doubts make me very un- 
happy.' 

" The good-natured girl's trouble and confusion 
increased as I spoke : ' my dear madam,' she re- 
plied, « when you are better, my lady will tell you 
all.' — ' No, no, Ellen, I must know it now ; tell 
it me this minute, or you must never expect to 
see me better under such uncertainty. What 
is the all, the frightful all, that I am to be 
told? How you have shocked me with that 
little word !' " 

The explanation comes but too soon. The 
first day after Sidney's illness, a vile anonymous 
scrawl, directed to her, had accused Faulkland 
of falsehood and perfidy ; of seducing and for- 
saking a young lady whom he met at Bath, and 
whose letter, appealing in the tenderest terms to 
his honour and compassion, and deprecating his 



142 MEMOIRS OF 

approaching marriage with another, was enclos- 
ed in the cover. This letter (sent in revenge 
by a discarded servant who had robbed his mas- 
ter of it) Lady Biddulph, during the illness of 
Sidney, had opened. She taxed Mr. Faulkland 
with the facts, which he could not deny; but 
hinted that there were very mitigating circum- 
stances ; while Sir George more warmly inter- 
posed, and declared Faulkland to be absolutely 
under no engagements whatever to the fair 
writer, and to have been merely the victim of a 
very weak, and a very bad woman — an aunt 
and niece. Lady Biddulph would hear nothing 
on the subject. A circumstance that occurred 
to herself in early life, gave her an almost super- 
stitious horror to the marriage of her daughter 
with a man on whom another woman had any 
sort of claim. The. warm and imprudent, but 
generous Faulkland, is condemned without a 
hearing ; all his letters and his attempts at justi- 
fication are alike rejected, and Lady Biddulph 
calls upon her daughter to justify the excellent 
precepts she has received from her earliest youth, 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 143 

by shewing h , '^capable of firmness in this 
first severe trial £ er affections. The heart of 
Sidney pleads for Orlando — a secret presentiment 
tells her that Lady Biddulph has been too preci- 
pitate ; her brother (and surely a brother might 
be trusted in what concerned a sister's honour) 
warmly pleads for Faulkland, but in vain. Lady 
Biddulph had even governed her daughter with 
despotic sway ; as Sidney eloquently expresses 
it, " her neck had been early bowed to obedi- 
ence." Every sentiment of delicacy demanded 
that she should not appear less scrupulous than 
her mother on this important occasion. The 
match is broken off. Faulkland, unable to re- 
main in the scene of his lost happiness, goes 
to Germany ; and Sidney is hurried into the 
country, w T here, some months afterwards, a 
matchmaking old lady, in conjunction with her 
mother, hurries on a marriage between her and 
a Mr. Arnold, upon the common-place pretext 
that, as her marriage with Mr. Faulkland had 
been much talked of, nothing would so surely 
save her from mortification in the eyes of the 



144 MEMOIRS OF 

world, as the speedily app^ l0t ^§ in it as the 
bride of another. The victi*" of obedience, 
Sidney bestows on Mr. Arnold her passive and 
reluctant hand : but afterwards finds, in the in- 
dulgence of her husband, and the endearments 
of two lovely children some compensation for the 
agonies she has suffered. But she is destined 
for greater trials — destined to experience the 
unjustly alineated affections of a husband, and 
to drain to the last dregs the bitter cup of ca- 
lamity. 

The woman, or rather avenging fiend, who 
by entangling the weak Arnold in her chains is 
to accomplish this diabolical purpose, is de- 
scribed with some of the happiest strokes of 
Mrs. Sheridan's pen. Sidney and her husband 
remove to South Park, a country residence set- 
tled upon her at her marriage : they are there 
visited by two " charming women," as the un- 
suspecting Sidney describes them, Mrs.Gerrard 

and Lady V . Lady V is really the 

amiable being she appears : but Mrs. Gerrard is, 
though unknown by name to Sidney, the ser- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 145 

pent who had already worked so much evil to 
her and Faulkland, by purposely throwing in 
his way the weak girl who had led him into a 
temporary error, expiated by a lasting punish- 
ment. But this appears hereafter. The follow- 
ing are Sidney's first impressions of this false 
friend. 

" We dined to-day, according to appointment, 
with Mrs. Gerrard. She called her house a 
cottage, nor does it appear much better at the 
outside, but within, it is a fairy palace. Never 
was any thing so neat, so elegant, so perfectly 
well fancied as the fitting up of all her rooms. 
Her bedchambers are furnished with fine chintzes, 
and her drawing-room with the prettiest Indian 
satin I ever saw. Her little villa is called Ashby, 
and her husband, she told me, purchased it for 
her some time before his death, and left it to her. 

" Our entertainment was splendid almost to 
profusion, though there was no company but 
Mr. Arnold and myself. I told her if she al- 
ways gave such dinners it would frighten me 
away from her : indeed it was the only circum- 

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146 MEMOIRS OF 

stance in her whole conduct that did not please 
me, for I was charmed with the rest of her be- 
haviour. 

" If Mrs. Gerrard is not as highly polished 
as some women are, who perhaps have had a 
more enlarged education, she makes full amends 
for it by a perfect good humour, a sprightliness 
always entertaining, and a quickness of thought 
that gives her conversation an air of something 
very like wit, and which I dare say passes for 
the thing itself with most people." — {Sidney 
Biddulphy Vol. I.) 

It is needless to point out the pleasing and 
delicate turn of discrimination in this last sen- 
tence Now view the reverse of the picture by 
a hand that knew her better. In a letter to Sir 
George Biddulph, Faulkland thus expresses him- 
self upon the subject of Mrs. Gerrard : 

" She has no solid understanding; but pos- 
sesses, in the place of it, a sort of flashy wit, 
that imposes on common hearers, and makes 
her pass for what is called clever. With a great 
deal of vanity, and an affectation of tenderness, 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 147 

which covers the most termagant spirit that ever 
animated a female breast, her ruling and govern- 
ing passion is avarice ; and yet, strange to tell! 
generosity is of all things what she professes to 
admire, and is most studious of having thought 
her characteristic. Her pretensions to this virtue 
I have opposed to her vice of avarice, as the 
terms appropriated to each seem most contrary 
in their natures : yet I do not mean by gene- 
rosity, that bounteous disposition which is com- 
monly understood by the word ; no, no ; she 
aims at the reputation of this virtue in our more 
exalted idea of it, and would fain be thought 
a woman of a great soul. This phrase is often in 
her mouth ; and though her whole conduct 
gives the lie to her professions, she would tell 
you fifty stories, without a word of truth in one 
of them, to prove how nobly she had acted on 
such and such occasions." — (Vol. II.) 

Surely the hand that traced these two portraits 
of the same person possessed no common talent 
for character-painting! — Sidney herself soon 
begins to discover faults in her new friend. She 

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148 MEMOIRS OF 

is not fond of needlework, and she is fond of 
play. By degrees Mrs. Gerrard throws off the 
mask. At this juncture Mr. Faulkland returns 
from abroad. This relationship to Lady V — 
conducts him on a visit to the neighbourhood of 
South Park. A slight, a very slight acquain- 
tance is renewed between him and Sidney. 
Some accidental circumstances occasion her to 
incur a fresh obligation to his humanity and 
courage. Mrs. Gerrard grounds her machina- 
tions upon these. She informs Mr. Arnold of 
the attachment formerly subsisting between 
Faulkland and his wife, a circumstance of which 
Sidney, from a delicacy of which she severely 
repents, had forborne to apprize him ; she 
misrepresents circumstances ; she avails herself 
of accidents; and, determined wholly to engross 
the infatuated Arnold, contrives at length to 
make him believe that Sidney and Mr. Faulk- 
land have a preconcerted assignation at her 
house. The consequences are dreadful ; Ar- 
nold, who had long been grown unkind and 
neglectful becomes furious. Entangled with 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 149 

Mrs. Gerrard, and anxious for a pretext to rid 
himself of the unhappy wife whom he has in- 
jured, he departs from South Park, leaving a 
cruel letter, acquainting her that he will never 
return till she has left it. His children, he 
determines, shall remain with him. In this 
crisis of her fate, Sidney has but one refuge ; 
but that one is ever open to her — the arms of 
her fond though mistaken mother. With agonies 
such as only a faithful wife and fond parent can 
conceive, she takes a despairing leave of her 
little ones, and, an exile from her husband's 
house, seeks the asylum of her mother's pro- 
tection in London. The meeting between her 
and Lady Biddulph is most affecting. 

" I found my mother at the house in St. 
James's Street, where I now am : my letter 
had thrown her into agonies from which she had 
not yet recovered. ' What have you written 
to me ?' said she, as she held me in her arms, 
1 your dreadful letter has almost killed me. 
Sure, sure, my dear child, it cannot be true that 
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150 MEMOIRS OF 

you have left your husband ? What is the 
cause ? What have you done ! or what has he 
done ?' I begged my mother to compose her- 
self a little, and then related to her every cir- 
cumstance. 

" Her lamentations pierced my heart. She 
wrung her hands in bitterness of anguish : 
' Why did not the grave hide me/ said she, 
* before I saw shame and sorrow heaped upon my 
child ? I looked to die in peace with you ; you 
might have lengthened my days for a while, 
but you cut them off— my eyes will close in 
affliction. A wounded spirit who can bear! 
had you died in your cradle we had both been 
happy ; my child would now have been a 
cherub. An angel you have been in my eyes, 
and I am punished for it, but that was my crime, 
not yours ; you are a martyr to the crimes of 
others.' 

" My mother wept not all this time. I wished 
she had. Her passionate looks and tones affect- 
ed me more than tears could have done. My 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 151 

eyes began to run over — hers soon accompanied 
me, and it a little relieved the vehemence of 
our grief." 

All this time the author has not forgot Faulk- 
land — Faulkland, the darling hero of her pen 
and of the hero's mind, who never for a moment 
loses the interest he first inspired as Sidney's be- 
trothed, her " ever-destined husband." Divided 
by untoward circumstances from the only object 
of his choice, his love (though concealed never 
subdued) thenceforward assumed a higher cha- 
racter : and he watches over the woman he still 
adores with the disinterested zeal of a guardian 
spirit. Overwhelmed with indignation at seeing 
the innocent and beloved Sidney an exile from 
her husband's house, and deprived of reputa- 
tion, domestic happiness, every thing that is 
most valuable to woman, his anguish increased 
by the consideration that he himself is the al- 
leged, though unoffending cause, he determines 
to make one last effort to open the eyes of the 
infatuated Arnold ; but the manner in which 
he executes this plan is such as could only be 
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152 MEMOIRS OF 

conceived by a mind equally determined, daring, 
and romantic. We have already said that Mrs. 
Gerrard was well known to him, and that her 
calumnies against him and Sidney, were only 
one of a series of crimes which loudly called 
for retribution. But how does Faulkland inflict 
it? — Sidney (Mrs. Arnold) is the secret object, 
the end and motive of every action and every 
sacrifice, suggested by his pure and hopeless 
passion, to the generous Faulkland. Her esteem 
he had as yet possessed, in the loss of every ten- 
derer sentiment : but even this last stake appears 
to him cheap in comparison with restoring her 
to happiness ; and, in order to separate Arnold 
from Mrs. Gerrard, and thus pave the way to 
his reunion with a deserving wife, Faulkland 
ventures to appear for a moment in her eyes in 
a light the most foreign to his real character. 

Two miserable months had passed away, and 
Mr. Arnold was in town on account of a lawsuit, 
but so far from seeking his wife, was momen- 
tarily expecting to be joined by his base compa- 
nion, when Sidney was aroused from the stupor of 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 153 

grief, by the amazing intelligence (conveyed in 
a letter from Lady V — ) that Mrs. Gerrard had 
eloped from the neighbourhood of South Park, 
and that Mr. Faulkland was the companion of 
her elopement ! A ray of consolation breaks in 
upon Sidney. That Mrs. Gerrard should, after 
half ruining Arnold, treat him with this undis- 
sembled perfidy, will, she trusts have the effect 
of opening his eyes to his former folly ; and that 
Mr. Faulkland should be the person she elopes 
with, will more than any thing, she hopes, tend 
to convince him of the futility of his sus- 
picions with regard to herself. Lady Biddulph 
triumphs in her superior discernment, in having 
always pronounced Mr. Faulkland to be a man 
of immoral character ; while, Sir George, who 
never wavered in his un deviating friendship to 
him, acknowledges himself confounded, and is 
obliged to confess it is " the strangest thing he 
ever knew in his life." 

That Sidney could not wholly withdraw her 
esteem from Orlando Faulkland without a pang, 
we may infer from the pleasure with which she 



154 MEMOIRS OF 

receives his j verification, which she communi- 
cates in the following manner to her Cecilia : 

" I have been almost asleep, my dear Cecilia, 
for this week past, but I have been roused this 
morning in a most extraordinary manner. Sir 
George called on us. He ran up stairs in a 
violent hurry, and had a countenance when he 
entered the room which spoke wonders. 

" In short he came to communicate a packet 
from Faulkland, (now on the other side of the 
channel) explaining the real springs of his 
extraordinary action. The following passages 
will sufficiently elucidate it. 

" Boulogne. 

" I am in haste, my dear Biddulph, to vindi- 
cate myself to you, but in much more haste to 
do so to Mrs. Arnold, who, if she bestows a 
thought at all on me, must, I am sure, hold me 
in the utmost contempt ; and great reason 
would she have if things were always as they 
appear. Methinks I see her " beautiful scorn," 
at hearing I had carried off Mrs. Gerrard ; — 
and yet I have carried her off, and she is now 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 1,55 

in my possession, not displeased with her situ- 
ation. But I assure you, Sir George, I have no 
designs but what are for the good both of her 
soul and body, and I have hitherto treated her 
like a vestal. What a paradox is here, say you. 
Have patience 'till I tell you the story of my 
knight errantry. 

" You are to know then that as Arnold's 
amour with Mrs. Gerrard was no secret at V — 
Hall, from the moment I heard it I meditated 
a design of breaking the detestable union : not 
out of regard either to him or her, but in hopes 
of restoring to the most amiable of women a 
besotted husband's heart, of which nothing but 
downright magic, infernal witchcraft, could 
have robbed her. The woman is handsome, 'tis 
true ; but she is a silly toad, and as fantastic as 
an ape. I had formed this design, I say, and in 
consequence resolved to renew my acquaintance 
with Mrs. Gerrard ; for I had known her be- 
fore, — known her to my cost. She it was, this 
identical devil, whom I have now in my power, 
that was the cause of Miss Burchell's misfor- 



156 MEMOIRS OF 

tune, and therefore the remote cause of my 
losing Miss Biddulph. Had it not been for her, 
I should never have had the fall of that unhappy 
girl to answer for. I do not rank this affair in 
the number of capital crimes, yet I never think 
of it without a pang. 

" I meant to carry Mrs. Gerrard away with 
the appearance of her own consent, and knew 
this was impossible while her lover remained so 
near her. I had formed but a rough sketch of 
my plan when I received your letter, which 
summoned me to Sidney Castle, and resolved 
not to apprize you of it till the enterprize was 
crowned with success. 

" On my return from visiting you, the first 
news I heard at V — Hall was, that Mr. Arnold 
and his lady were parted. I cursed my own 
dilatoriness that I had not executed my plan 
before things were brought to such extremities, 
for I well knew it was that artful fiend w T ho had 
occasioned it, though I then little thought how 
fatally I had contributed towards the misfortunes 
of the most amiable and respectable of women. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 157 

" Lady V told me that your sister, having 

discovered her husband's infidelity, had left him 
on that account ; but my lord soon let me into 
the whole secret. Oh ! Sir George — that angel, 
who deserved the first monarch in the universe, 
to be cast off by an undiscerning dolt ! and I, 
though innocently, the accursed cause. I can- 
not think with patience of what the divine 
creature has suffered on my account ; but was 
it not all from the beginning owing to Mrs. 
Gerrard, that avenging fury, sent on earth as a 
scourge for the sins of me and my ancestors ! — I 
rave — but no wonder. I am mad upon that 
subject." — 

In the history of this elopement, sans amour, 
an elopement which has no parallel in any other 
novel, the author has availed herself of her un- 
common powers of wit and humour to enliven 
and diversify her narrative. 

After an enumeration of all the measures he 
had taken, and the springs he had set in motion, 
to ensure complete success to his designs, de- 
signs which are conducted with consummate 



158 MEMOIRS OF 

art and ingenuity, Faulkland describes the man- 
ner in which he accomplished the accompanying 
Mrs. Gerrard, with her own consent, from a ball, 
and thus continues : 

" Our bal] was very well conducted ; I danced 
with Mrs. Gerrard, and we passed a very agree- 
able evening. 

" Mrs. Gerrard was one of the first that 
offered to go." 

Her servants, (with some contrivance on the 
part of Faulkland,) were found so intoxicated 
they could not attend her. 

" In this emergency nothing was more natu- 
ral than to offer my servants to attend her home, 
and of course to wait on her myself to see her 
safe. She readily accepted the first offer, but 
declined the other. This was easily got over : 
I handed her into her chariot, and stepped in 
after her." 

He then relates the arrangements he had made 
to secure her completely in his power, and thus 
proceeds : 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 159 

" Mrs. Gerrard was not immediately aware of 
our going out of the road ; she was in high 
spirits, and I kept her in chat. As soon as she 
perceived it she cried out with some surprise, 
< Lord, Mr. Faulkland ! where is the fellow car- 
rying us ? he has missed his way/ She called 
to him, but the coachman, who had orders not 
to stop unless I spoke to him, only drove the 
faster. ' Pray do call to him,' said she. I told 
her there was no possibility of turning in the 
narrow road in which we then were ; that when 
we got out of it, I would speak to the coach- 
man ; and begged her in the meanwhile not to 
be frightened. The lane was a very long one, 
but our rapid wheels soon carried us to the end 
of it ; where I had appointed Pivet and one of 
my footmen to meet us on horseback. 

" At the sight of two horsemen, who were 
apparently waiting for us, she screamed out, 
* Oh ! the villain, he has brought us here to be 
robbed.' She had a good many jewels on her, 
and, to say the truth, had some reason for her 
fears. 



160 



MEMOIRS OF 



" I saw she was heartily frightened, and 
thought it time to undeceive her. I was not 
illnatured enough to keep her longer under the 
apprehensions of highwaymen ; and thought she 
would be less shocked at finding there was a de- 
sign upon her person, than on her diamond ear- 
rings. < Now, 5 said I, taking one of her hands 
with rather more freedom than respect, * since 
we are out of all danger of discovery, or any 
possibility of pursuit, I will tell you a secret ;' 
and I spoke with an easy assured tone. She 
drew her hand away, — ' What do you mean, 
Sir?' 

" ' Nothing, madam, but to have the pleasure 
of your company in a little trip I am going to 
take. Believe me, you are not in the least dan- 
ger : you are under my protection. Those are 
my servants that you see riding with us ; and 
you may judge of the value I set upon you by 
the pains I have taken to get you into my 
possession.' 

" 'Lord, Mr. Faulkland! why sure you can't 
be serious?' 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. l6l 

" * Never more so in my life, madam. I have 
long had a design upon you, but your connexion 
with Mr. Arnold—' 

" ' My connexion with Mr. Arnold, Sir !' in- 
terrupting me) ; * I don't understand you. 5 

" ' Come, come, Mrs. Gerrard ; you and I are 
old acquaintance, you know ; tis no time for 
dissembling.' 

" The lady had now recovered her courage ; 
she was no longer in fear of being robbed, and 
her spirits returned. 

" ' You audacious creature ! — how dare you 
treat me thus ? Have you the assurance to 
insinuate that there was any thing criminal in my 
attachment to Mr. Arnold and his family ?' 

" ' My dear madam, I accuse you of no attach- 
ment to any of his family ; he himself was the 
only favoured person.' 

" * Sure there never was such an impertinent 
wretch ! But I know the author of this scan- 
dal : it was Mrs. ,' (and she dared to pro- 
fane your sister's honoured name) ; ' but I de- 

M 



162 MEMOIRS OF 

spise her ; and Mr. Arnold shall soon know how 
I have been affronted ;> — and she fell a crying. 

" ( My dear Mrs. Gerrard, I beg your pardon ; 
I did not mean to offend you. If Mr. Arnold 
admired you, he did no more than what every 
man does who sees you. I beseech you to com- 
pose yourself: by all that is good I mean you 
no harm ; — be calm, I conjure you ; and don't 
spoil the prettiest face in England with crying.' 

" * A daring, provoking creature!' — she sob- 
bed. * What could put such an attempt as this 
into your head — and to what place are you 
carrying me ?' 

" * Only to France, my dear creature ; have 
you ever been there ?' 

" ' To France, to France !' — she exclaimed ; 
« and do you dare to think you shall carry me 
there ?' 

" < Oh ! you'll like it of all things,' said I, 
' when you get there.' 

" What do you think her reply was ? Why, 
neither more nor less than a good box on the 
ear. I caught hold of her hand, and kissed it. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 163 

" c You charming vixen, how I admire you for 
your spirit !' She endeavoured to wrest her 
hands from me, but I held them both fast for 
fear of another blow. 

" ' Base, insolent villain V 

" As she rose in her epithets I replied with — 
* Lovely, charming, adorable, tender, gentle 
creature.' She cried again : but they were 
spiteful tears, and did not create in me the least 
touch of that pity, to which, on any other occa- 
sion, they might have moved me.' " — Sidney 
Biddulph, Vol. II. 

There is much comic spirit and humour in 
this narrative and dialogue ; and some of Falk- 
land's repartees are excellent. 

Having sent home Mrs. Gerrard's chariot at 
the first baiting place, which belonged to people 
devoted to Faulkland's orders, the rest of the 
journey was performed in Faulkland's travelling 
carriage, until they reached an inn near Roches- 
ter, where Faulkland had prepared an agreeable 
surprise for her ; this was no other than the 
attendance of her woman, Mrs. Rachael, with all 
m 2 



164 MEMOIRS OF 

the jewels and valuables the lady had left behind. 
In order to make Mrs. Gerrard's departure ap- 
pear to have been with her own consent, Mr. 
Faulkland had called at Ashby on the evening 
of the ball, and told the damsel (unknown to 
her mistress) that her lady was to go off with 
him that night ; that the thing had, for certain 
reasons, not been determined on till that very 
evening • and that he had just snatched a mi- 
nute, to desire her to get all her lady's trinkets 
together, and whatever money and bills she had 
in her escrutoire. In order for this he gave her 
a parcel of small keys, which he had in his 
pocket for the purpose. Whether any of the 
keys he gave her would fit the locks (he adds 
with his characteristic humour) he was not 
much concerned. If they did not, he concluded, 
she would think her mistress had made a mis- 
take, and force them open rather than fail. 

The mutual surprise of Rachael and Mrs. 
Gerrard at meeting is well described. 

" The chariot drove into the court-yard close 
to the door of the inn. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 165 

" We both darted into the house ; dressed as 
we were for a ball, we made an odd appearance 
as travellers at that hour in the morning. 

" I inquired for Mrs. Gerrard's maid, and 
was carried into the room where she was. I 
desired her to lay out her lady's toilette, for that 
Mrs. Gerrard would presently put herself in a 
proper habit for travelling. I saw a vast heap 
of things lying unpacked on a bed which w T as in 
the room, and asked her how she had managed 
so cleverly as to get such a number of things 
together without observation. She told me she 
had lost no time, from the minute I left her till 
the arrival of her guide ; she had huddled her 
lady*s clothes into a large portmanteau ; after 
which she went to examine her lady's escrutoire, 
but was a long time puzzled in endeavouring to 
open it ; as none of the keys I had given her 
answered, she endeavoured to force it open with 
as little noise as possible, but in vain. She then 
had recourse to a second trial of the keys, when 
one of them, which probably had been passed 
m 3 



166 MEMOIRS OF 

by before, luckily opened the lock, and she had 
secured all the money she could find. 

" Mrs. Gerrard's astonishment at the sight of 
her maid was past description. 

" Rachael! in a tone of admiration — Rachael, 
who did not think there was any thing unex- 
pected or extraordinary in their meeting, quite 
at a loss to guess at what her mistress wondered, 
answered in her turn, with some surprise, ' Ma- 
dam !' — and waited, expecting she would give 
her some orders ; which, finding the lady did 
not, the maid asked her very composedly, would 
she please to undress. ' I hope, madam,' said 
I, stepping forward, 'that Mrs. Rachael has 
taken care to bring you every thing you may 
have occasion for ; I shall leave you in her 
hands, and wish you a good repose/ — ■ Strange, 
astonishing creature P said Mrs. Gerrard, look- 
ing at me with less anger than surprise ; I 
bowed and left the room." 

The narrative, which is broken into two parts, 
closes with the safe arrival of the travellers at 
Boulogne. A second packet informs Sidney 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 167 

and Sir George of Faulkland's happy accom- 
plishment of the most difficult part of his task, 
the inducing Mrs. Gerrard to write to Arnold 
a letter of his dictating, disavowing her calum- 
nies, and renouncing all further correspondence 
with him. The gradual steps by which he leads 
this selfish and artful jilt to the point he so 
much desired, though too long for insertion, 
are described with consummate skill. Mrs. 
Gerrard takes up the idea that no motive but 
love could have prompted Faulkland's extra- 
ordinary proceeding ; and, infatuated by vanity, 
believes that if she consents with a good grace 
to give up Arnold, he will be induced to make 
her his wife. In order to further this plan, she 
tells him a hypocritical story of the distress in 
which she was left at the death of her husband 
Captain Gerrard ; of her ignorance when she 
first received his addresses (which was in town) ; 
that Arnold was a married man ; of the reluc- 
tance with which she suffered his profusion, 
&c. &c. - y for he had furnished her house at 
Ashby, and insisted on her keeping a chariot. 

m 4 



168 



MEMOIRS OF 



She professes her contrition for her past con- 
duct, and her good resolutions for the future. 
Faulkland lets her go on in this manner, little 
suspecting she is furthering his plan when she 
intends to promote her own ; and when he has 
at length brought her to the point of acknow- 
ledging her wrongs to Mrs. Arnold and him- 
self, he tells her, that if she is in earnest in her 
desire to repair them, she can offer no objec- 
tion to the letter he proposes. The scene of 
dictating the letter, — the remarks of Faulkland 
interspersed, — the affected generosity, and real 
sordid avarice and meanness, of this base and 
unprincipled woman, — all these circumstances 
are given with a comic force, as genuine as any 
to be met with. Orlando thus describes it. 

" She took the pen in her hand, but seemed 
irresolute, and at a loss how to begin. ' Come, 
madam,' said I, c and confute by your own ex- 
ample, the received but erroneous opinion, that 
if a woman once strays from the paths of virtue 
she never returns to them.' 

" * A false and ill-grounded opinion indeed,' 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 169 

said she, lifting up her prophane eyes, as in 
penitence. ' What am I to say ?' — You are to 
observe that my notes as she went along, while 
I dictated, are put between hooks. 

« THE LETTER. 

" (Begin.) ' Dear Sir,' — (for I would be 
neither too familiar nor too cold,) * The terms 
on which you and I have lived, entitle you to 
an explanation of my reasons for leaving you so 
abruptly ; and I hope the generosity of my 
motive, will incline you to overlook the seeming 
unkindness of the action.' 

" (This you may assure yourself it will when 
he comes to consider coolly.) 

" * The unhappiness that I occasioned in your 
family, by causing the separation of you and 
your wife, has, for a long time, been a thorn in 
my heart : and the more so, as, besides the rob- 
bing her of your affections, I own, and take 
shame to myself in the confession/ (how noble 
must he think this confession !) ' that those 



1?0 MEMOIRS OF 

aspersions which I threw on her, had not the 
least foundation in truth.' 

" (This is truly great.) 

" * I always believed her perfectly innocent ; 
but if I could have had the least possible doubt 
of it before, I must be now confirmed in that 
opinion by Mr. Faulkland, who can have no 
reason for excusing or palliating facts of this 
nature from me at present.' 

" (Here she added of herself, repeating it 
first aloud to me :) 

" * And I think the preference he has given 
me to her now, in her state of separation, is a 
convincing proof of this.' 

" (An admirable argument !) (Her vanity 
would not let her slip this observation.) 

" (Proceed, madam.) 

" ' The true reason of my insinuations against 
her, were no other than that I could not bear to 
share your affections with any body.' 

" (And a very sufficient reason too, which a 
man that loves can easily forgive.) 

" « I knew that so long as she gave you no 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 171 

cause of complaint, you were too just to with- 
draw your whole heart from her, and nothing 
but the whole would content me/ 

" (Still you see you shew a great mind.) 

" ■ True/ said she, going on : * but my 
reason for leaving him without apprizing him of 
it, what are we to say for that T 

" (Oh ! nothing more easy to execute : he will 
admire you the more for the reason I shall give : 
Come.) 

" ■ My departing without first making you ac- 
quainted with my design, and going off with 
another person, may, at first sight, seem very 
strange : but, to tell you the real state of my 
heart, I found I could not trust to its firmness 
on the subject of parting with you. I loved 
you so, that it was with pain and grief I made 
the resolution ; and I knew too well that had 
you used any arguments, which to be sure you 
w r ould have done, to dissuade me, I, like an 
easy fool, would have given up all my good 
designs.' 



172 MEMOIRS OF 

" (I am only afraid this will make him love 
you more than ever.) 

" (She smiled, as she continued to write.) 

" * As for the other article — ' 

" (This I was more puzzled to excuse than the 
first ; but, putting on a bold face I said, ' Ma- 
dam, I hope you will not condemn me here, 
while you excuse yourself. The saying you 
were run away with, will knock all the rest on 
the head, and he may chuse whether he will 
believe that you really intended to break off 
with him or not ; therefore that particular had 
better not be touched upon.' ' Well,' said she, 
' get me out of this scrape as cleverly as you 
brought me into it. '—-' Fear not,' said I — ' go on'). 

" « As for the other article, though I shall 
never love Mr. Faulkland as I have done you, 
yet in him I have found a protector; and 
through his means I hope to pass the remainder 
of my life, in a manner more suitable to a 
woman of a generous way of thinking, than 
one wherein she considered herself as encroach- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 173 

ing upon the rights of another. I hope by this 
sacrifice, which I have made of my love to a 
more heroic principle, that I shall expiate my 
former offence ; and that you will follow my 
example so far as to make what reparation you 
can to the woman we have both injured.' 
" (How this must exalt you in his opinion !) 
" ' I think it must,' cried she, bridling up her 
head, as if they were really her own sentiments. 
* I believe,' said I, ' this is all that is necessary to 
be said : you may add in a postscript, that as 
he furnished the house for you at Ashby, every 
thing in it is at his service ; together with your 
chariot and horses, which were also his gifts. 
She demurred to this ; and in the midst of her 
heroics said, I wish I could get somebody to 
sell them for me privately, and remit the money 
to me : for since I am here, I should like to see 
a little more of France before I return.' I told 
her that would look mean, and below a great 
mind.' ' Well,' said she, ' let them go.' " — 
The dreadful moment of eclair cissement ap- 



174 MEMOIRS OF 

proached. How to extricate himself out of 
the difficulties in which he had involved him- 
self for Mrs. Arnold's sake, was now to be the 
consideration of Faulkland. To prevent Mrs, 
Gerrard's return to England, where she would 
have again blown up the flames of discord, and 
to ensure to her an honourable and comfortable 
independence in the foreign country to which 
he had transported her, were the two points 
most strongly suggested to the prudence and 
generosity of Faulkland. Every thing short 
of the " sacrifice of himself," as he expressed 
it, he was willing to undertake for the be- 
nefit of Mrs. Arnold ; but nothing less 
than the devotion of his life would, in Mrs. 
Gerrard's opinion, make amends for the con- 
cessions to which he had persuaded her ; and 
though she was so thoroughly known to him, 
and though he had never deceived her by any 
serious professions of love, her vanity made her 
believe a marriage with him was an event likely 
to take place. It became necessary to keep her 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 17^ 

no longer in ignorance of his final intentions ; 
and the explanation is conducted, on both 
sides, with truly dramatic effect. 

Having made Mrs. Gerrard seal and despatch 
her letter, Faulkland continues : 

" You will think, perhaps, that as I have 
managed it, I have really given her a sort of 
merit with Arnold, in the acknowledgment of 
her faults, and the pretended reason she gives 
for leaving him. No such thing, Sir Geerge. 
Arnold is a man of too much sense, and knows 
the world too well to be so deceived. All her 
professions must go for nothing, when facts are 
against her. It is plain she went off with ano- 
ther man, and to all appearances premeditately, 
as her maid and her riches bore her company. 
It is also plain by her own confession that this 
man stands well with her. As for her recanting 
her injurious aspersions on poor Mrs. Arnold, 
'tis the only circumstance in her letter likely to 
gain belief; and for the rest, to any one of 
common understanding, who lays circumstances 
together, it will appear as I intended it should, 



176 MEMOIRS OF 

the contrivance of an artful jilt ; who, having 
almost ruined the wretch she had in her power, 
would afterwards make a merit of deserting 
him. 

" I pity him from my heart in his present 
situation : for it will be some time before he 
will be sensible of the good I have done him ; 
and I dare swear the man is at this time so 
ungrateful, that, if he could, he would cut my 
throat. I do not want him to know the extent 
of his obligations to me : I shall be satisfied to 
sit down in the contemplation of my meritorious 
actions, without enjoying the fame of them. 
This greatness of mind I learnt of Mrs. Ger- 
rard." — 

There is a fine sarcasm in that last sen- 
tence. 

" The having gained my material point put 
me into high spirits. I praised Mrs. Gerrard 
for the part she had acted, though I very much 
feared she would repent of it when we came to 
explanations, which I resolved should be on 
that very day. I told her I hoped she would 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 177 

oblige me with her company at dinner. She 
consented with a bow. 

" I never saw Mrs. Gerrard so agreeable as 
she was during dinner — she was in high spirits 
and good humour. I almost thought it a pity 
to let her down that day : but I considered the 
longer her expectations were kept up, the 
greater would be her disappointment, and de- 
termined to put her out of doubt. 

" I had been told Mrs. Gerrard was no ene- 
my to a cheerful glass, but observed that she 
drank nothing but wine and water made very 
weak. This I was afraid would not be sufficient 
to keep up her courage under what I intended 
to say to her. I pretended to be disposed to 
drink, and insisted on her helping me out with 
a flask of burgundy. With affected coyness 
she suffered me to fill her glass ; the second 
offer I made, her resistance was less ; the third 
she made no objection to at all ; and the fourth 
she filled for herself. I thought her now a match 
for what I had to say. 

" I had made the glass pass briskly, and had 

N 



178 MEMOIRS OF 

filled up the intervals with singing catches and 
rattling on any subject that came into my head. 

" Mrs. Gerrard seemed to grow a little out 
of humour at my levity. I found the burgundy 
had been quite thrown away upon her : she 
was silent for a few minutes, and seemed to be 
considering of something. At last she opened, 
and I will give you the conversation that passed 
between us. 

" Mrs. G. « Mr. Faulkland, it is time that 
you and I should understand one another's 
meaning a little better than we do at present. 
You know very well that you have put an end 
to all my expectations in England. Indeed, 
if I were at liberty, I could not have the face 
to return there again in any character but that 
of your wife.' 

" [I was glad she began first, and that, 
though I guessed at her views, she had used so 
little caution in discovering them, as it at once 
roused in me an indignation which I could not 
suppress, and without which I could not have 
brought myself to mortify her as she deserved.] 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 179 

" Mr. F. ' My wife, Madam [' (stopping her 
at that tremendous word,) ' be pleased to tell 
me if I heard you right ?' 

" Mrs. G. ' Yes, Sir, it was your wife I said; 
I thought, Sir/ (stifling the anger that I saw 
rising) * that the words w T hich you yourself dic- 
tated in the letter which I just now wrote, 
where you say, ' / had in you found a protector, 
by whose means I should be able to pass the rest 
of my life in a manner more suitable to a woman 
of a generous way of thinking, than that wherein 
she considered herself as encroaching on the 
rights of another.' — Were not these your own 
words, Sir?' 

" Mr. F. ( They were, Madam.' (To say 
the truth, there was something equivocal in the 
paragraph, though, when I desired her to write 
it, this construction never entered into my 
head.) 

" Mrs. G. ' Then, Sir, how am I to under- 
stand them ?' 

" Mr. F. ' I protest, Madam, you have forced 

N 2 



180 MEMOIRS OF 

a construction, that I never once so much as 
dreamed of.' 

" Mrs. G. ( Sir, you use me very ill ! I did 
not expect such treatment.' 

" Mr. F. ' How, pray, Madam ? Did I ever 
say I would marry you ?' 

" Mrs G. * No, Sir, but your behaviour has 
given me room to suppose that such a thing was 
in your thoughts.' 

" Mr. F. ' Are you not then the more 
obliged to me, for treating you with such res- 
pect as to make you fancy so ?' 

" Mrs. G. ' Respect, respect !' (muttering 
between her teeth) c Mr. Faulkland :' (and she 
stood up) ' there is not a man in England but 
yourself, after what I have declared, that would 
refuse to make me his wife.' 

" Mr. F. * What have you declared, Mrs. 
Gerrard ?' 

" Mrs. G. ' Why, have I not ingenuously 
owned my failings, shewn myself sorry for them, 
quitted them, and made all the reparation in 
my power?' 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 181 

" (I was amazed to see how audaciously she 
adopted as her own, sentiments which I had 
suggested to her. It was so like her that I 
could have laughed in her face.) 

" Mr. F. ' Your behaviour on this occasion 
has really been worthy of the imitation of all 
your own sex, and the praise of ours. For a 
woman voluntarily to quit an irregular life, and 
that too from mere motives of conscience 9 — 

" (I paused and sat silent, looking at her and 
playing with one of the glasses.) 

" Mrs. G. ' Mr. Faulkland, if you are dis- 
posed to have done trifling, and will vouchsafe 
me a serious answer, pray, tell me, are you 
absolutely determined not to marry me ?' 

" Mr. F. ' Absolutely.' 

" Mrs. G. ' You are not serious, sure T 

" Mr. F. ' My dear creature, why sure thou 
canst not be serious in asking me the question.' 

" Mrs. G. ' Sir, I am serious, and expect a 
serious answer.' 

" Mr. F. ' Why then, seriously, I have no 
more thoughts of marrying thee, than I have 

n 3 



182 MEMOIRS OF 

of marrying the first Sultana in the Grand 
Seignor's seraglio.' 

" Mrs. G. 1 Very well, Sir, very well ; I am 
answered. 5 (And she rose and walked quickly 
about the room.) 

" We were both silent : she, I suppose, ex- 
pected that I should propose other terms, and a 
settlement, and waited to try if I would speak. 
I had a mind to tease her a little, and hummed a 
tune. 

" Mrs. G. (advancing tome and making a low 
curtesy with a most scornful and sarcastical air) 
' May I presume to inquire what your Migh- 
tiness' s pleasure is in regard to me ? Do you 
intend to keep me for your nurse against your 
next illness, or intend me for the Grand Seig- 
nor's harem to wait on the first Sultana ?' 

" Mr. F. ' I can't tell.' (Carelessly, and 
looking another way) ' I have not yet deter- 
mined which way I shall dispose of you/ 

" Mrs. G. ' Dispose of me ! dispose of me ! 
why sure the man has lost his senses !' 

" Mr. F. ' Look you, Mrs. Gerrard : we 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 183 

will play no longer at cross purposes. Sit down 
and be calm for a few minutes till you hear what 
I have to say.' 

" (She did so, with a kind of impatience in 
her looks.) 

" 'Howlong have you and I been acquainted ?' 

" Mrs. G. ' Lord, what is that question to 
the purpose ?' 

" Mr. F. ' Only that you may look back, and, 
upon recollection, ask yourself if you ever had 
any reason to look upon me as your lover ?' 

" Mrs. G. ' I made that observation to you 
when we were travelling together. What is 
the use of it now ?' 

" Mr. F. ' Did I, in the course of our jour- 
ney, declare myself to be such, or drop the 
least hint of devoting myself to you on any 
condition ?' 

" Mrs. G. ' We did not talk on the subject 
at all.' 

" Mr. F. ' Did I ever presume on the ad- 
vantage of having you in my power, to venture 
on the smallest liberty with you, or ever deviate 

n 4 



184 MEMOIRS OF 

from that respect in my behaviour, that I was 
used at all other times to treat you with ?' 

" Mrs. G. ' I do not say you did, and it was 
that very behaviour that inclined me to imagine 
you had other thoughts than those I find you 
have.' 

" Mr. F. ' You drew a wrong conclusion, 
though it is to be confessed not a very unnatu- 
ral one.' 

" Mrs. G. ' Well well,' (peevishly) < I don't 
understand your riddles — to the point.' 

" Mr. F. ' Why the point, in short, is this : 
that without any particular designs on your 
person, my whole view in carrying you out of 
England, was to break off your intercourse with 
Mr. Arnold.' " 

This declaration acts like a thunderstroke 
upon Mrs. Gerrard. 

Without heeding the indignation painted in 
her countenance, Faulkland proceeds briefly to 
recapitulate the motives that were sufficient, 
without love, to actuate his conduct. To res- 
tore an amiable woman to her family : a wife to 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 185 

her husband, and a mother to her children. 
To remove the distress of her brother, his own 
particular friend, and the anguish of the aged 
Lady Biddulph, almost broken-hearted with the 
ill-usage of her child. To clear Mrs. Arnold's 
character from aspersion, and to open the eyes 
of Arnold, with regard to his injustice to 
Faulkland himself. He concludes : 

" ' Now, Mrs. Gerrard, lay your hand on your 
heart, and answer me if I have not given you 
reasons, which, though they may not be satis- 
factory to you, are in themselves of weight 
sufficient to justify my conduct.' " 

The effect of his communication is striking 
and terrible. 

" All artifice was now at an end, and she un- 
masked the fiend directly. She started off her 
chair with the looks and gestures of a fury ; 
and fixing her eyes (which had really something 
diabolical in them at that instant) steadily on 
me, ' You wretch !' she cried, with a voice an- 
swerable to her looks, ? you are such a false, 
dissembling, mean-spirited reptile, that if you 



186 MEMOIRS OF 

had a kingdom to offer me, and would lay your- 
self at my feet to beg my acceptance of it, I 
would trample on you like dirt ! ■ — and she 
stamped on the floor with the air of an Amazon." 
It is needless minutely to pursue the story 
further. Necessity, by degrees, subdues that 
termagant spirit, and the consideration of her 
ruined fortune and demolished reputation, in- 
duces Mrs. Gerrard to listen to the overtures of 
Faulkland, generous even in his vengeance ; 
who offers to ensure to her a comfortable inde- 
pendence, with a husband of his choosing, if she 
will remain in France ; he also proposes to her 
the alternative of a convent, which she rejects with 
horror and disdain. The husband is a young 
man in Faulkland's suite, who had become 
enamoured of Mrs. Gerrard' s beauty, notwith- 
standing that Faulkland did not conceal from 
him her bad qualities. With this young man, 
who is enabled by Faulkland' s generosity to set 
up in business, and make a very handsome set- 
tlement on her, she at length retires in tolerable 
contentment from the scene ; and as she was 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 187 

herself of very low origin, the marriage could 
neither be considered as a hardship nor a degra- 
dation. 

The surprise, indignation, grief, and rage of 
Mrs. Gerrard, and the sullen submission into 
which those passions at length subside, are 
touched with the hand of a master ; and the 
narrative concludes with Orlando's brief notice, 
of his having had " the satisfaction of bestowing, 
with his own hand, that inestimable treasure of 
virtue and meekness, Mrs. Gerrard, on his faith- 
ful squire, Monsieur Pivet, to the no small joy 
of the latter, and, if the truth were known, to 
the no great mortification of the former."— 
Vol. II. 

I have been so copious in my extracts from 
this part of the story, that it necessarily enjoins 
brevity in the remainder. It might have been 
easy to select more striking passages, but Sid- 
ney Biddulph has had its full praise as a moral 
and pathetic work ; my object w r as rather to 
prove it was not deficient in spirit and gaiety ; 
a brief analysis of the rest may suffice, although 



188 MEMOIRS OF 

the reader must be aware that in a novel per- 
fectly well contrived, the under-characters and 
incidents cannot be sacrificed without " curtail- 
ing it" of its " fair proportion," and injuring the 
effect and symmetry of the whole. The well- 
contrived, though romantic scheme of Orlando, 
is productive of its full effect. The letter of the 
faithless Gerrard at once opens the eyes of Ar- 
nold; but while he is eagerly desiring a recon- 
ciliation with his injured wife, a lawsuit, in which 
his whole estate is involved, is decided against 
him, and he is left almost a beggar. The scru- 
ples he now feels are overcome by the advances 
of the tender and generous Sidney ; and they 
retire to Lady Biddulph's abode of Sidney- 
Castle, with diminished means but increased 
affection, where they enjoy a life of the purest 
domestic happiness, till the death of Arnold, 
who loses his life in consequence of a fall from 
his horse in hunting. 

The death-bed of the penitent Arnold con- 
tains some of the finest strokes of pathetic paint- 
ing to be met with in any composition : there 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 189 

is something in the mixture of firmness and 
agonizing sorrow of Sidney on that occasion, 
and in certain traits of her conduct, that will 
remind the reader of the beautiful character of 
Lady Rachel Russell. 

After an interval given to this solemn scene 
of deep affliction, other interests resume their 
power.— 

Sidney is again free. Faulkland, the generous 
Faulkland, to whom she owes such important 
obligations, is returned to England, and loves 
her still " with an unparalleled affection." Does 
not his constant devotion deserve some reward ? 
Her brother pleads, — he pleads for himself, — 
and Sidney is not insensible to his unequalled 
merit ; but the fatal obstacle that prevented 
their union before, still exists, in her opinion, 
with increased force. Miss Burchell, the un- 
happy young woman who was the cause of their 
disunion, had been recommended, by the huma- 
nity of Faulkland himself, to the countenance 
and compassion of Lady Biddulph, on his first 
going abroad after his disappointment. Since 



190 MEMOIRS OF 

that time she had won upon the esteem both of 
the mother and daughter, by her " most seem- 
ing virtuous" and modest deportment. She had 
obtained a promise from Sidney, to use her in- 
fluence with Mr. Faulkland in her favour : an 
infant son preferred a strong claim to his justice 
and affection. In several letters in answer to 
Faulkland's renewed and impassioned declara- 
tions, Sidney urges these, and many more argu- 
ments, in favour of his forsaken mistress ; to 
which Faulkland still continues to reply, that 
Miss Burchell has no right to his vows. Hope- 
less at length of prevailing with her who pos- 
sesses his heart, he yields to her representations, 
and determines on deserving and obtaining at 
least her esteem. 

There is a beautiful congeniality in the high 
tone of mind of Sidney and Orlando. His 
marriage with Miss Burchell is accomplished, 
and he accepts her as the gift of Mrs. Arnold ; 
accepts the fatal bane of his existence from the 
hand of the woman he adores. 

Disappointed in her early love, wronged by 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 191 

the man upon whom she had afterwards be- 
stowed her dutiful affection, and obliged by the 
dictates of honour, and a too punctilious deli- 
cacy, a second time to refuse happiness when 
offered to her acceptance, Sidney had tasted of 
every evil but poverty ; and this, after the death 
of Lady Biddulph, comes fast upon her. The 
misfortunes and imprudence of Arnold enabled 
him to leave her very little. At the death of 
her mother every thing went to Sir George. 
Since he found she had been instrumental in 
marrying his friend to Miss Burchell, for whom 
he entertained the strongest contempt, Sir 
George had renounced her. At this moment, 
Orlando, rejected in her happier days, and now 
retired with the wife of her choice to his estate 
in Ireland, resumes his guardian watchfulness ; 
and through the delicate medium of a female 
friend, sends her a considerable supply, with an 
offer of its continuance ; but Sidney, aware that 
the lady from whom the offers appear to come, is 
not in circumstances sufficiently affluent to make 
such generous donations, suspects the giver, and 



19^ MEMOIRS OF 

rejects the gift. The subsequent sufferings to 
which she is exposed ; the arrival of Warner, the 
rich West-Indian ; and the whole episode in 
which he is concerned, are points of the story so 
well known, that it would be superfluous to make 
any further mention of them here. The story 
of Warner has been translated into several lan- 
guages ; and the comic as well as serious scenes 
it includes have made it deservedly popular. 

Sidney is now in possession of all that wealth 
can give ; but the sharpest trial is yet to come. 
Many circumstances have conspired to make her 
suspect Mrs. Faulkland's unworthiness ; but still 
the bitterness with which her brother speaks of 
her, appears to her unjust. Being reconciled to 
Sir George Biddulph, she takes an opportunity, 
in private conversation with him, to ask if he 
has any further cause than she knows of, for his 
ill opinion of her ; and Sir George, being thus 
pressed, makes disclosures so unexpected and 
extraordinary, that the ill fated Sidney deeply 
repents the share she had in promoting the mar- 
riage of Mr. Faulkland. His catastrophe now 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 19# 

draws near: the conduct of Mrs. Faulkland 
justifies Sidney's wildest apprehensions. Faulk- 
land is deceived, dishonoured, and takes justice 
into his own hands : his life is forfeited to the 
laws of his country, and he flies to England, to 
take a last look on her who had been the cause 
of all his sorrows. 

Then, in that moment of mutual agony, when 
with faltering tongue, and looks fastened upon 
hers, in wistful anguish he whispers the thrilling 
demand : " What recompense can you make the 
man whom you have brought to misery, shame, 
and death ?" — When again, in the impassioned 
delirium of love and of frenzy, he at length claims 
Sidney as his own, — his chosen, — his bride ! — 
whom no adverse fate shall sever from him 
more, — all our sympathies are awakened for the 
sufferings of a being so wronged, so exalted ; 
and we are ready to exclaim with Shakespeare, 
on witnessing a ruin as complete, — 

" O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown !"— 



194 MEMOIRS OF 

Though the distress here seems wrought up 
to the utmost, the most unexpected and sur- 
prising events succeed each other with rapidity ; 
but to pursue the story any further, even by 
analysis, would be equally an injustice to the 
author and the reader. The closing scenes of 
Sidney Biddulph must be perused at full length ; 
as any attempt to extract from them, would too 
much injure their beauty and pathos : and 
wherever they have been read, they have met 
with the most unequivocal testimony to their 
truth and interest,— breathless attention, and 
involuntary tears. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 195 



CHAPTER VI. 

Mrs. Sheridan in London. — Anecdotes of Dr. Johnson.— 
Samuel Richardson. — Mrs. Peckhard. — Colloquial powers 
of Mrs. Sheridan. — Learning. — Description of the person 
of Mrs. Sheridan. — Anecdotes.— Habits of self-control. — 
Love of Truth.— Anecdote.— Second removal to Wind- 
sor. - Windsor Anecdotes. — " The Discovery." — Exami- 
nation of a passage in Dr.Watkins relative to Garrick and 
" The Discovery." — Friendly disposition of Mrs. Sheridan. 
— Mr. Armstrong. — Humorous competition between " The 
Discovery" and " The Duenna."— Whimsical conduct of 
Mrs. Cholmondely. — Critique on the Comedy. 

I have now touched upon the principal points 
of the first part of " Memoirs of Miss Sidney 
Biddulph." It was published originally in three 
volumes. The second part, which did not 
come out until after Mrs. Sheridan's decease, 
introduces many new characters, and may in a 
great measure be denominated a new work. It 
shall be noticed in its proper place. 

At this time, Dr. Johnson was a frequent 
visitor at Mr. Sheridan's, when he was in 
London, and used to fondle the children in his 

o 2 



196 MEMOIRS OF 

rough way ; who might, so far, boast of having 
been " elevees sur les genoax des philosophes" 
Observing that Mrs. Sheridan's eldest daughter* 
already began to give signs of that love of 
literature for which she was afterwards distin- 
guished, and that she was very attentively 
employed in reading his " Ramblers," her 
mother hastened to assure Dr. Johnson it was 
only works of that unexceptionable description 
which she suffered to meet the eyes of her little 
girl. " In general," added Mrs. Sheridan, " I 
am very careful to keep from her all such books 
as are not calculated, by their moral tendency, 
expressly for the perusal of youth." 

" Then you are a fool, madam !" vociferated 
the Doctor. " Turn your daughter loose into 
your library ; if she is well inclined, she will 
choose only nutritious food ; if otherwise, all 
your precautions will avail nothing to prevent 
her following the natural bent of her incli- 
nations." 

* Afterwards married to Joseph Lefanu, Esq., of 
Dublin 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 197 

This injudicious and dangerous extension of 
the maxim, " aux sains tout est sain," in a man 
of Dr. Johnson's acknowledged morality, can 
only be accounted for, by the peculiarity at- 
tributed to him by his friend and biographer 
Mr. Boswell, that of liking to " take down" a 
person by unexpected censure, in the moment 
of complacency and self-approbation : other- 
wise, both his sense of w T hat was right, and his 
habitual admiration of Mrs. Sheridan's judg- 
ment, must have prevented the rude reproof: 
as the practice of indiscriminate reading might 
assuredly introduce the young mind to an ac- 
quaintance with the most blameable examples, 
and immoral precepts, while yet unaware that 
any danger was incurred. 

Another favourite guest was the novelist, 
Samuel Richardson. He was not only an im- 
proving, but, occasionally, a very agreeable 
companion. Like most persons of genius, how- 
ever, his spirits were unequal. 

Mr. Sheridan has sometimes called, and found 
poor Richardson (to use his own expression) 

o 3 



198 MEMOIRS OF 

dull " as a drowning fly," and vainly struggling 
with the oppressive weight of melancholy that 
oppressed him. On those occasions, the best 
way to rouse his spirits was to divert his atten- 
tion from the unpleasant object that might 
happen to engross it. When this was judiciously 
effected, Richardson would gradually become 
animated, cast off his mantle of gloom, and 
display in his conversation all the whim, point, 
and humour that guided his pen, when pour- 
traying a Lovelace, or a Charlotte Grandison. 

The ingenious Mrs. Peckhard, wife to the 
celebrated dissenting minister of that name, 
was also often of these parties. Mr. Peckhard 
is well known as the author of several polemical 
tracts. The name of Mrs. Peckhard frequently 
occurs in the " Correspondence" of Samuel 
Richardson. Her talents for conversation were 
considerable. One bon-mot of hers, uttered in 
the playfulness of unrestrained domestic inter- 
course, proves her to have been a scholar as 
well as a wit. 

One of Mr. Sheridan's daughters being a 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 199 

florid, chubby child, had obtained in the family 
the name of " Libs ;" because, like one of the 
winds thus classically denominated, she had 
cheeks remarkably full and glowing. 

One evening, that the assembled company 
were engaged in some serious literary disqui- 
sition, and that the child, with the weariness 
incidental to her age, was impatiently enduring 
their neglect, and the absence of those little 
fond attentions to which she had been accus- 
tomed, Mrs. Peckhard suddenly terminated a 
conversation which must have been utterly un- 
intelligible to the infant listener, by gaily ex- 
claiming, " Come, don't let us be so austere, 
or Libs wo'n't note us." Thus, in one short, 
and apparently familiar English sentence, in- 
cluding the Latin names of the three winds, 
Auster, Libs, and Notos. This whimsical 
adaptation of classical words to a modern sense, 
was admired by Mr. Sheridan as a remarkably 
happy impromptu. 

But for playful gaiety, for solid sense, for 
every different charm of conversation, none 

o 4 



£00 MEMOIRS OF 

approached to the degree of perfection possessed 
by Mrs. Sheridan. 

That she was more celebrated for colloquial 
powers than even for her literary talents, the 
opinion of numerous departed friends, and of 
one illustrious living witness,* bear ample tes- 
timony : yet, in what that peculiar charm of 
conversation consisted, that attraction by which 
Mrs. Sheridan, without beauty, fascinated and 
delighted minds of the most opposite textures, 
it is difficult at this distance of time to deter- 
mine. 

The same woman, whose powers of mind 
were approved and admired by Johnson, and 
Johnson's great successor in the critical chair, 
was often also mentioned to her children in 
terms of regret and feeling, by some of the 
gayest and most dissipated men of the age, 
but who had yet sufficient taste to relish her 
society and court her conversation. 

Perhaps Mr. Bos well may help us to a solu- 
lution of this difficulty. He says, " Mrs. She- 

* The very learned Dr. Samuel Parr. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 201 

ridan was a most agreeable companion to an 
intellectual man. She was sensible, ingenious, 
unassuming, yet communicative." Now, though 
this sentence, at a first glance, may appear 
to contain but measured praise, it will be 
found, upon examination of the four qualities 
enumerated, to include all the principal ingre- 
dients that render conversation delightful. A 
knowledge of books and of the world, mingled 
in just proportions ; wit, regulated and res- 
trained by a temper and manners of singular 
mildness ; a total exemption from affectation, 
pedantry, and literary pretension ; and the glow 
of a kind heart, and a communicative dispo- 
sition pervading every expression, and diffusing 
its harmonizing richness over the whole. 

That learning is not necessarily a bar to a 
lady's agreeableness is evident, as Mrs. She- 
ridan loved and studied the classics, and has 
particularly left in " Sidney Biddulph," a me- 
morial of her attachment to Horace. 

The " enfranchisement " of her faithful ser- 
vant, " with a sort of merry ceremony," so 



202 MEMOIRS OF 

agreeably described towards the close of the 
book, also shows a mind familiar with classical 
ideas ; but these are the only two instances that 
I remember in which they recur : and when we 
compare this temperate use of her treasures, 
with the laborious trifling so painfully con- 
spicuous in some modern learned females, we 
may learn to appreciate her modest self-denial. 
To a species of reading the very reverse of the 
classical, yet one which has almost always pos- 
sessed a charm for persons of genius, Mrs. Sheri- 
dan also appears to have been addicted — I mean 
the old romances. 

Her views of life were justly conceived, and 
expressed with forcible simplicity. Who that has 
known distress but must subscribe with his whole 
heart to the justice of the following sentence ? 

" Oh, my friend, these are the stings of 
poverty ! It is not the hard bed, nor the 
homely board, but the oppressive insolence of 
proud prosperity : 'tis that only which can 
inflict a wound on the ingenuous mind."* 

* Sidney Biddulph, vol. iii. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 20S 

Her knowledge of the gay and busy world 
was extensive : though from the distance of time, 
and the early age of her children, when she 
died, I am enabled to select but a few names 
from among the number of her acquaintance. 
It is certain that she had seen life under a great 
variety of aspects ; and her works bear testi- 
mony that her powers of selection were not 
inferior to the opportunities afforded her for 
observation. The mode of intercourse subsisting 
formerly, when friends assembled in small knots, 
really to enjoy the pleasure of each other's 
society, was certainly more favourable to the 
de^velopement of mental graces, than those 
crowds in which all distinction of character and 
sentiment must be lost. Add to this, that she 
had in her husband's society, the opportunity 
of constant intercourse with an accomplished 
mind, and even supposing her various avocations 
did not leave Mrs. Sheridan a great deal of lei- 
sure for reading, she must have acquired, both 
in her domestic circle and from the conver- 
sation of her guests, a correctness of judgment, 



204 MEMOIRS OF 

\ 

and delicacy of taste, without the danger of 
contracting either that reserved or that pe- 
dantic manner, the mingled result of timidity 
and pride, which is too often, in a woman, the 
consequence of solitary study. 

Mrs. Sheridan, though not strictly handsome, 
had a countenance extremely interesting. Her 
eyes were remarkably fine and very dark, cor- 
responding with the colour of her hair, which 
was black. Her figure would have been good, 
but for an accident that happened when she was 
an infant, by which she contracted a lameness 
that prevented her from going to any distance 
without support. This, by taking pains, she 
could disguise in walking a short way : but if 
she attempted more, it was perceptible. The 
fairness and beauty of her bust, neck, and arms, 
were allowed to have seldom been rivalled. 
The hand and arm has been copied by a painter,, 
who whimsically requested that she would allow 
him to make them his model in a full-length por- 
trait of a lady who did not, in that respect, possess 
the advantage of beauty in so high a degree. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 205 

Another anecdote is remembered of Mrs. She- 
ridan's going up from Windsor in a public coach, 
in which was a gentleman with whom she was 
unacquainted. After some time, Mrs. Sheridan, 
who, like most ladies of that period, took snuff, 
drew off her glove to take a pinch. The 
stranger, smiling, observed, " There are few 
ladies, Madam, who would have concealed such 
a hand and arm so long !" 

In her dress, Mrs. Sheridan, though never 
affecting the studious negligence of the literary 
ladies of her day, was certainly rather inclined 
to simplicity than show. Although the portrait 
represents her without any head dress, she 
most usually wore a cap of a grave and ma- 
tronly form. Her gowns, which were invariably 
of silk, were always made up in the form of 
negligees, on account of the accident in her 
shape. 

Her love of plainness and grave colours a 
little exceeding what her husband thought ne- 
cessary for her time of life, Mr. Sheridan took 
the following method to correct it. 



206 



MEMOIRS OF 



As Mrs. Sheridan was reading by the fire, in 
a gown of dark brown silk, a colour he particu- 
larly detested, a hot coal fell, unobserved by 
her, upon the train. It must be remembered 
that the substantial silks then worn by the 
ladies were not in danger of blazing up sud- 
denly, and communicating the flame to the 
person : Mr. Sheridan, therefore, quietly let the 
coal moulder on, till it had burnt a hole in the 
train sufficiently large to render the favourite 
brown dress unfit for future service; and then, for 
the first time, called her attention to it by saying, 
" My dear, don't you see your gown's on fire !" 
— These notices, however trifling, will, I trust, 
not be deemed impertinent, as contributing to 
complete the portrait of a woman, at once of an 
amiable and exemplary character. Nothingis now 
wanting to complete this picture, but a more co- 
pious selection than has yet appeared of her cor- 
respondence ; but I have not been able to pro- 
cure any manuscript letters, her family having 
unfortunately not preserved them \ and from 
those that have been published I am sparing in 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 207 

my choice, selecting only such passages as bear 
undoubted proofs of having been suggested by 
Mrs. Sheridan's genuine feelings. For this I 
have two reasons : I do not wish to fatigue the 
reader with the same passages over again, that 
have been given in the " Memoirs of R. B. 
Sheridan ;" and I have no means of ascertaining 
whether, in the " Miscellany," in which they 
were originally published without the permis- 
sion, and against the wish of her family, they 
may not have been subjected both to omissions 
and interpolations. 

Though often a sufferer in her health, Mrs. 
Sheridan had none of the querulousness of an 
invalid : on the contrary, her naturally good 
spirits are seen perpetually breaking forth like 
sunshine, from the midst of the clouds of sick- 
ness and sorrow. A letter, part of which has 
been already given to the public, concludes with 
the following pretty playful passage to her 
protege, Samuel Whyte. 

"I am glad to hear you have recovered your 
health and spirits, and with them, I hope, your 



208 MEMOIRS OF 

peace of mind. In truth, I believe I have in- 
verted the order of things here, and have placed 
the effects" before their cause : be that as it 
may, I wish them to you altogether, with an 
additional acquisition of reputation and fortune. 
There ! — I think I have put matters to rights, 
and given the words their proper places ; for 
according to the temporal order of things, in 
your way of life, money most assuredly waits 
on reputation." 

Here we see, indeed, the amiable disposition 
of mind described by the poet : 

" The affection warm, the temper mild, 
The sweetness that in sorrow smiled !" 

Mrs. Sheridan's temper, though excellent 
from nature, was rendered yet more amiable 
by long habits of discipline and self-command. 
It was, indeed, very warm ; and that was a cir- 
cumstance this excellent woman did not hesitate 
often to confess to her children, while incul- 
cating by example the duty, and illustrating the 
possibility of keeping the temper under control. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 209 

Indeed the best tempers have often been ob- 
served to be those which it has cost their owners 
many bitter lessons of patience and self-denial 
to subdue and regulate ; they are as much to be 
preferred to the thoughtless good-nature, origi- 
nating merely in a happy frame of the animal 
spirits, as every excellence, attained by a due ex- 
ertion of the will and energies of the mind, is to 
be placed in the scale of rational existence above 
the possession of merely natural gifts. 

Mrs. Sheridan possessed a very conscientious 
mind, and the strongest sense of honour. The 
following paragraph, in answer to the offer of an 
imparted secret from a male correspondent, con- 
tains a maxim that it might be advantageous for 
every married woman to follow. 

" You told me you would let me know, 
under seal ofsecresy, why a certain person inter- 
fered so warmly about Mrs. . I should 

be glad you would explain this. I assure you 
your information shall be a secret, except to Mr, 
Sheridan. A secret delivered to me, viva voce, 
might be lodged safely within my own breast ; 



210 MEMOIRS OF 

but those communicated by letter hazard a par- 
ticipation, as I have no correspondence that I 
do not show." 

Perhaps a better union of discretion and frank- 
ness was never exhibited in a female character. 

She had an inviolable respect for truth, and 
such a happy manner of impressing the impor- 
tance of it upon others, that in her household, 
among her children, servants, and tradespeople, 
it was remarked that those even who practised 
disguise and equivocation with others, experi- 
enced an unconquerable reluctance to impose 
upon her. Of this the following anecdote fur- 
nishes a familiar example. During Mrs. Sheri- 
dan's residence in London, the man who supplied 
the family with bread had been wronged by his 
boy to a considerable amount ; yet, although he 
was certain of the fact, upon taxing the youth 
with it, he could by no means induce him to ac- 
knowledge it. At length he applied to Mrs. 
Sheridan: "If you would have the goodness to 
speak to him, ma'am," he said, <( I am sure he 
could not persist in his wickedness." 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 211 

With this request, dictated no doubt by some 
knowledge of her character, Mrs. Sheridan 
thought proper to comply. She saw the boy 
in private ; and with that happy art of persua- 
sion, which, from her earliest youth had been her 
study with the young and uneducated, repre- 
sented to him the double guilt he incurred. 

The culprit could not withstand the impressive 
goodness, distant alike from sectarian rigidity 
and worldly carelessness, that distinguished the 
manner of Mrs. Sheridan — the scrutiny of her 
mild yet penetrating eye : he made a full con- 
fession of his fault ; and when asked why he 
had not done so sooner, replied, that " he had 
intended to have persisted in his denial to his 
master, but that he could not tell a lie to Mrs. 
Sheridan.' 9 

The summer of I762 again beheld Mrs. She- 
ridan at " the favourite place of her inspiration." 

" Thy forest, Windsor ! and thy green retreats, 
At once the Monarch's, and the Muses' seats," 

proved equally a scene of satisfaction to her- 

p 2 



21£' MEMOIRS OF 

sel£ and of health to her children, whose early 
recollections were associated with that august 
and classical spot. 

Some of these recollections related to amusing 
incidents, but which will perhaps appear too 
trifling in the narration. 

With the happy facility peculiar to their 
years, they had formed an acquaintance with a 
very old lady who occupied apartments in the 
palace, and who had been maid of honour to 
Queen Anne. This old lady presented the 
youngest with some relic of ancient finery, that 
appeared in her eyes very precious, and she was 
the cause of their making frequent visits to the 
palace. 

The preparations for the arrival of the Royal 
Family did not even induce them to discontinue 
these visits ; and during the stay of the illus- 
trious party, Charles, Mr. Sheridan's eldest boy, 
(in search, it must be supposed, of his old friend) 
wandered as far as some of the private apart- 
ments, and found himself suddenly in the pre- 
sence of a lady who was playing upon the harp- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 213 

sichord ; she smiled with condescending sweet- 
ness on the child, and took no other notice of 
his intrusion ; which the little culprit afterwards 
learned was upon Charlotte, the new and 
amiable sovereign of England. 

Another time the heedlessness of the children 
gave Mr. Sheridan more serious cause of alarm. 
The eldest Miss Sheridan, who had been walk- 
ing in the Park attended by a female servant, 
came in with an air of uncommon joyousness 
and elation, to shew her father a prize that 
she had ordered the girl to carry home. It 
was the prettiest little beast in the world, she 
said, that she and her companion had discovered 
in the Park. Mr. Sheridan, who imagined it 
to be a little cat or a dog at the utmost, listened 
with indifference to this description ; but his 
dismay was proportionate when he discovered 
that the prize, which the maid had carried 
wrapped up in her apron, was nothing less than 
a fawn from the royal enclosures ! The coun- 
tenance of Mr. Sheridan, when animated by 
surprise or anger, was awful ; and his eyes 

p 3 



214 MEMOIRS OF 

seemed to dart forth sparks of fire. Turning 
on the trembling servant one of those looks 
formed " to threaten and command/' his first 
words were, " Girl! do you know you might 
be hanged for this ?" and his next, a peremptory 
order to return that instant, and replace the 
fawn in Windsor Park. 

The girl, who had never been used to dispute 
her young lady's supreme commands, was now 
equally terrified at her master's representation 
of the consequence of her compliance : she 
thought she never could fly too quickly to restore 
the little sylvan beauty to its native shades, 
and returned (with far greater rapidity than she 
had left it) to the Park. Fortunately the trans- 
action had not been remarked. The sentinel, 
unaware of the nature of the bundle she still 
carried in her apron, suffered her to pass ; and 
with trembling haste, and the sentence of Mr. 
Sheridan still ringing in her ears, to place the 
fawn upon the spot of grass from which she had 
so heedlessly taken it. 

It was during their excursions to Windsor 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 215 

that the intimacy between Mr. Sheridan's family 
and Dr. Robert Sumner took place ; Dr. Sum- 
ner was then one of the masters of Eton.* 

This summer, at Windsor, Mrs. Sheridan 
formed the plan and sketched the scenes of her 
first comedy, " The Discovery/' 

On her return to town, Garrick earnestly 
requested to see it. Mrs. Sheridan read it to 
him herself, and he immediately begged it 
might be put into his hands, and undertook 
the character of Sir Anthony Branville. Mrs. 
Sheridan was now raised to the highest point of 

* " He was" (says the Rev. Dr. Samuel Parr) " a thorough 
judge of moral and intellectual merit. Great was the regard 
and the admiration which he felt for Mrs. Frances Sheridan ; 
and very intimate was the friendship which subsisted between 
him and her husband." 

A little above is added, by the same hand: 

" I knew her (Mrs. Sheridan), from her general character, 
from her excellent publications, and from one or two inter- 
views which I had with her at the house of the very learned 
Dr. Sumner of Harrow." 

" In clearness of intellect, delicacy of taste, and purity of 
heart, she was one of the first women whom I ever knew." 

P 4 



216 



MEMOIRS OF 



literary celebrity ; distinguished by the appro- 
bation of Richardson, as a novel-writer, and of 
Garrick, as a dramatist, the two most flattering 
distinctions that time could boast attended her 
career. 

Dr. Watkins thinks (p. Ill — 112) this eager- 
ness of Garrick to have the "Discovery" put 
into his hands, an undeniable proof of his 
" liberality," and " a complete refutation of all 
the idle stories that were told, to the disad- 
vantage of Garrick, with regard to his keeping 
down Sheridan, out of jealousy of his superior 
talents." 

We have already seen, that if they were 
" idle stories," the persons that circulated and 
perpetuated them were Garrick's two admirers, 
Thomas Davies and Arthur Murphy. As to 
the liberality of Garrick, without wishing to 
make unnecessary objections, upon a point in 
which every one has a right to have his own 
opinion, we must be permitted to observe, that 
it is not clear where the liberality lay. The 
biographer says, we have " the testimony of 
Mrs. Sheridan herself," that he was " ac- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 21? 

tuated " by a " desire to serve his friends, and 
not the mere interests of the Theatre." 

The testimony alluded to is in a letter dated 
"London, Nov. 29th, 1762," and beginning : 

" It was not in revenge that I did not answer 
your's of October sooner. The truth is, since 
my return to town from Windsor, I have been 
much employed, though often interrupted by 
intervals of bad health, which of late have 
frequently returned on me. I have, however, 
mustered up spirits enough to write — what do 
you think ? Why a Comedy ! which is now in 
rehearsal at Drury Lane." After mentioning 
that she had formed her plan, and nearly finished 
the scenes at Windsor, as above related, Mrs. 
Sheridan adds : " Mr. Garrick was pressing to 
see it, and accordingly I read it to him myself. 
What his opinion of it is you may judge by his 
immediately requesting it to be put into his 
hands, and undertaking to play the second cha- 
racter, a comic and very original one. 

" My first theatrical essay has so far met 
with an almost unprecedented success. Most of 



218 MEMOIRS OF 

us poor authors find a difficulty in getting our 
pieces on the stage, and perhaps are obliged 
to dangle after managers a season or two : I, 
on the contrary, was solicited to give mine, as 
soon as it was seen." 

In this, and the preceding paragraph, I con- 
fess, I can see nothing more than the honest 
exultation, experienced by even the most mo- 
dest mind, on its efforts being crowned with 
success, but not a word of gratitude ; in fact, 
their was none due. The interest in this case 
was mutual, and the transaction was therefore 
of course productive of mutual satisfaction. 
Garrick saw, with one glance of his eagle eye, 
that two characters in the comedy (those of 
Sir Harry and Lady Flutter) were exactly 
suited to two young persons in the house, Miss 
Pope, and Mr. O'Brien, whose talents he was 
desirous to bring forward. He also himself 
took an uncommon fancy to the character of 
Sir Anthony Branville, and the event justified 
his predilection, for we have Davies's " testi- 
mony," that 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 219 

" Garrick's reputation for pleasing in Bran- 
ville was so great, that he was, the year before 
he left the stage, called upon by a royal com- 
mand to revive the Discovery, and play Sir An- 
thony Branville. ,, — Life ofGarrick, vol.i.p. 311. 
The same letter that contains an account of 
the " Discovery," relates the flattering mark of 
royal favour shewn to Mr. Sheridan, in the 
grant of a pension ; and the manner in which 
it is worded, places the estimation in which her 
husband was held, in a stronger light than any 
biographer has chosen to notice. 

" Mr. Sheridan is now busied in the English 
Dictionary, which he is encouraged to pursue 
with the more alacrity, as his Majesty has 
vouchsafed him a signal mark of royal favour. 
He has granted him a pension of two hundred 
pounds a year merely as an encouragement to 
his undertaking, and this without solicitation, 
which makes it the more valuable. The con- 
cluding paragraph in the letter affords one 
proof, among many, that neither domestic em- 
ployments, nor literary engagements, prevented 



%20 MEMOIRS OF 

Mrs. Sheridan from exercising her kind heart in 
the performance of obliging actions : while her 
truly fascinating manners, which rendered her 
acceptable to all ranks of persons, furnished 
her promptly with the means of success. As 
it alludes to a negociation that seems to have 
been begun above six months before, I shall 
give the extracts from her two differently dated 
letters together. The first mention of it is, 
" London, March 80th, 1762." 

" I waited in hopes of being able to give 
you some satisfactory account of your friend 
Mr. Armstrong j and am very glad to inform 
you, that I happened to have interest enough 
with a very worthy gentleman to get him a 
small employment, which he has thought worth 
his acceptance. Upon my first application to 
this gentleman, he told me he had nothing in 
his power : but that I might depend on him 
when any thing offered. I then got my brother 
to write to Mr. Adair : who returned the same 
answer ; and I was afraid the young man might 
have continued here a long time without sue- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 221 

ceeding, when my friend Commissioner Tom, 
came himself to tell me he had a place worth 
sixty pounds a year, and apartments, &c. with 
it. I understood from Mr. Armstrong that he 
had a mind to go abroad : but as nothing eligible 
was to be procured in that way, I thought that 
this might be better than nothing. I wrote to 
him, and desired him to wait on Commissioner 
Tom. He did so, and Mr. Tom has since 
informed me, that he accepted of the place, 
and purposed going down to Portsmouth, where 
he is stationed." 

It appears afterwards that the young man, in 
whom she interested herself, missed this ap- 
pointment by some failure of his own ; but this 
did not damp Mrs. Sheridan's benevolence, for 
she thus concludes her letter of Nov. 29th. 

" I know not whether Mr. Armstrong ever 
gave you any account of himself. A failure on 
his side occasioned his losing the little place 
which was ready for his acceptance. Perhaps 
he has done better : for, on his missing that, I 
got him so well recommended, that he was sent 



222 MEMOIRS OF 

with the army to Portugal, in a very good sta- 
tion, where I suppose he now is." 

On the fifth of February, 1763, the comedy 
of " The Discovery " was presented to the 
public. The first night of its representation 
must have been one of fearful anxiety to Mrs. 
Sheridan. Notwithsanding the success of " Sid- 
ney Biddulph," her uncertainty must have 
been great respecting the reception of this, her 
first dramatic attempt. That excellence in one 
style of writing is no certain preservative 
against complete failure in another, the ex- 
ample of some of the dramatic pieces of the 
celebrated novelist Henry Fielding, sufficiently 
testifies. Most truly has it been observed, that, 
" the sneering reader, and the loud critic, and 
the tart review, are scattered and distant ca- 
lamities ; but the trampling of an intelligent or 
an ignorant audience, on a production, which, 
be it good or bad, has been a mental labour to 
the writer, is a palpable and immediate griev- 
ance." At the same time it must be admitted, as 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 



223 



set-off to this justly drawn and strongly coloured 
picture, that if the censure and sarcasm elicit- 
ed by the author who writes only for the closet 
be "scattered" and "distant," so, also, may 
sometimes be his praise : and, however exten- 
sive his fame, he cannot know (except by inspi- 
ration) every rapture that has been excited by 
his numbers, every heart that has glowed in 
solitude over his verse. On the contrary, there 
is in the " instantaneous perception" of the 
theatre, an immediate acknowledgment of ex- 
cellence, a grateful return for instruction and 
pleasure received, most flattering to the feelings 
of any writer who sets a just value on the de- 
served approbation of his fellow-beings. 

On this trying occasion Mrs. Sheridan had all 
the support that a just confidence in her own 
powers, united to the highest domestic encou- 
ragement, could give her. 

The principal humorous character in her play 
(Sir Anthony Branville) was honoured with the 
particular approbation of Garrick himself, who 
was desirous of undertaking it; and the piece 
was brought out with the advantage of the whole 
strength of the house. Mr. Sheridan playing 



224 MEMOIRS OF 

Lord Medway ; Mrs. Pritchard, Lady Medway ; 
Mrs. Yates, the widow Knightly ; Mrs. Palmer, 
Miss Richley; Mr. O'Brien and Miss Pope, 
Sir Harry and Lady Flatter : and Mr. Garrick, 
Sir Anthony Branville.* 

Just at the hour the anxious authoress, who 
spent the time at home, might judge the piece 
concluded, and tremblingly anticipate the final 
decision of the public, a joyous party from the 

* Garrick retained his predilection for this character long 
after the hand that had traced it was cold. In 1775, when 
" The Duenna" appeared at the other theatre, and proved 
for above seventy nights the sole magnet of attraction, Gar- 
rick, to divide the public attention, revived " The Discovery" 
at Drury Lane, and announced himself for the character of 
Sir Anthony Branville. This setting up of the mother against 
the son, appeared to old Mi\ Sheridan something so strange and 
unnatural, that he would not allow his daughters, though in 
London., to go to see it ; by which means they were deprived of 
the double and exquisite treat of witnessing the inimitable per- 
formance of Garrick in a comedy of their mother's writing. 

Mr. Harris, of Covent-Garden, nothing daunted by this 
manoeuvre, continued to act "The Duenna" to overflowing 
houses. This proceeding used to be called at the time (in 
allusion to the character who gives her name to Mr. Sheridan's 
piece, and also to the advanced age of Mr. Garrick, the 
principal supporter of " The Discovery,") " The Old Woman 
against the Old Man." Davies mentions Garrick's once 
playing " The Discovery" in 1775, " by royal command ;" 
but omits, or was ignorant of his motive for continuing it. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 225 

theatre, headed by the Hon. Mrs. Cholmondely, 
burst into the drawing-room, and warmly con- 
gratulated her on the complete success of her 
play. In the fashion of those days, Mrs. Chol- 
mondely wore a chip hat and linen gown for 
the middle gallery ; her beautiful white hands 
were sore with applauding ; a few words ex- 
plained her reasons for this apparently singular 
conduct. 

The strong characters of Lord Medway and 
Mrs. Knightly, and the humorous ones of Sir 
Anthony Branville, Sir Harry and Lady Flutter, 
could not, she felt assured, fail of being relished 
and justly appreciated by the tasteful and dis- 
criminating part of the audience in the pit and 
boxes, and that her presence there was unneces- 
sary ; but as there was an infusion of sentiment 
exquisitely delicate in the piece, and as the whole 
belonged rather to the cast of high and genteel 
comedy than of broad and farcical humour, she 
thought the respectable supporters of the middle 
gallery might require a little leading ; and in con- 
sequence stationed herself, with Mr. Archibald 
Frazer and a considerable body of friends, to 



226 MEMOIRS OF 

point out to them when they should admire, and 
contribute their share to the success of the play 
by obstreperous thunders of applause. Having 
claimed approbation for the complete success of 
this manoeuvre, the lively Mrs. Cholmondely now 
requested the fortunate poetess would hasten 
the arrival of supper for herself and hungry 
friends : and those are little acquainted with the 
anxieties and solicitudes of the drama, who can- 
not imagine that seldom was a supper dispatched 
with greater gaiety and appetite. 

" The Discovery" continued to be acted with 
success for a considerable part of the winter ; 
and Mrs. Sheridan's fame and profit increased 
proportionably. 

Of this comedy, as I have already mentioned 
the leading characters, it is unnecessary to say 
much. 

The plot is deep and interesting ; and the 
truly tremendous and startling " Discovery" 
most artfully concealed until the final develop- 
ment. The imperious character of Lord Med- 
way finely contrasts with the gentleness of his 
lady ; and the really frigid temper and affected 
raptures of the romantic old knight, Sir Anthony 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. v 2Tj 

Branville, who makes love according to the an- 
tiquated rules of chivalry, and esteems a task or 
a penance set him by his mistress as a favour, 
were rendered irresistibly ludicrous and effec- 
tive by the inimitable acting of Garrick. But 
still a great portion of the amusement certainly 
rests upon the two characters of Sir Harry and 
Lady Flutter. These claim the merit, almost 
singular in the modern drama, of perfect origi- 
nality in the conception. The quarrels and 
"makings-up" of this school-boy and school- 
girl pair ; their mutual reproaches and recrimi- 
nations, which are in the best style of Sheridan's 
comic dialogue ; their dangerous reference to 
the interested arbitration of Lord Medway; 
and their final and heartfelt reconciliation, pre- 
sent altogether such a " picture of youth/' as 
was rarely traced by any other pen, in a manner 
equally true to nature. 

If Sir Harry and Lady Flutter were fortunate 

in the skill with which they were delineated, 

they were equally so in the justice done to them 

in representation. Miss Pope, and the elegant 

q2 



228 MEMOIRS OF 

O'Brien,* were at that time the breathing pro- 
totypes of the characters they sustained, The 
gaiety, vivacity and sprightliness that shone 
conspicuous in this accomplished pair, their ex- 
treme youth and interesting appearance, gave to 
the scenes in which they acted together, a de- 
gree of brilliancy and effect, which was pro- 
duced not only by their talents, but by their 
being themselves, like the characters they re- 
presented, in all the spring and pride of the 
earliest and most blooming period of existence. 
The value set by Garrick upon the] comedy 
continued unabated ; and he went so far as to 
assure a publisher, who afterwards bought a 
share in it, " that it was one of the best comedies 
he ever read, and that he could not do better 
than to lay out his money in so valuable a 
purchase." 

If " The Discovery " has, in modern times, 
been comparatively laid aside, this may partly be 
attributed to the want of an adequate represen- 
tative of Sir Anthony Branville, and partly to 

* Afterwards married to Lady Susan Strangways. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 229 

the large drafts drawn upon Mrs. Sheridan's 
muse by succeeding dramatic writers. In Hol- 
croft's " Road to Ruin," the filial self-devotion 
of Harry Dornton is copied, without acknow- 
ledgment, from that of Colonel Medway ; and 
in his most lachrymose comedy, " The Deserted 
Daughter," the character of Lady Anne Mor- 
dent is a compound of Lady Easy in " The 
Careless Husband," and Lady Medway in 
" The Discovery." 



<l3 



%3Q MEMOIRS OF 



CHAPTER VII. 

Portrait of Mrs. Cholmondely. — The original of several of 
Mrs. Brookes' Heroines. — Friendship for Mrs. Sheridan. 
— Anecdotes of Catherine Macauley. — Humorous Vanity 

of Mrs. Clive.— Anecdote.— The Dupe Ode to Patience. 

— Mrs. Woffington's Phaedra. — Epigram on a Reply made 
to Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough Affliction, an Apo- 
logue. — Distinguished Compliment paid to Mr. Sheridan, 
in Ireland. — Mr. Sheridan's Opinion of the Female Sex — 
Bath and Bristol. — Mrs. Sheridan becomes a Pupil of Mr. 
Linley's. — The Linley Family. — Juvenile Anecdote of 
Thomas Linley. — Mr. Sheridan and Miss Hannah More. 
— Dangerous Accident to Mrs. Sheridan. — Edinburgh.— 

Mr. Sheridan honoured with the Freedom of the City 

Lady Maxwell mother to the Duchess of Gordon.— Re- 
moval to France. 

Of the Hon. Mrs. Cholmondely, the lady 
who has been introduced as bearing so conspi- 
cuous and whimsical a part in the success of 
" The Discovery," it is now time to say some- 
thing further. 

The intimacy of this lady with Mrs. Sheri- 
dan originated in the admiration Mrs. Choi- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 231 

mondely had conceived for her character. On 
Mrs. Sheridan's coming to London, Mrs. Chol- 
mondely sought her out, and would be acquainted 
with her. It is difficult to conceive the original 
attraction that conducted to Mrs. Sheridan, a 
woman of mild manners and domestic habits, 
Mrs. Cholmondely, the lively heroine of many 
popular novels of the day ; the original Lady 
Anne Wilmot of Mrs. Brookes' " Julia Mande- 
ville ;" and the Bell Fermor of her " History of 
Emily Montague :" Mrs. Cholmondely, whose 
wit and beauty are so often the theme of the 
writers of the age, and whose delight it was 
(within the strict limits of decorum) to attract 
around her a circle of male admirers. Not- 
withstanding the diversity in their manners, 
the attachment that united these ladies was 
certainly very strong, for the remembrance of 
her friend was cherished by Mrs. Cholmondely 
with emotions of the liveliest tenderness. After 
Mrs. Sheridan's decease, and the return of her 
daughters from France, Mrs. Cholmondely was 
among the first to seek them out ; and often, in 
q 4 



%3°2 MEMOIRS OF 

the midst of her liveliest sallies, the tears would 
rush unbidden into her beautiful eyes, and she 
would abruptly exclaim to the youngest, " Do 
not look thus at me — you remind me too much 
of your mother." 

This sympathy must be attributed to the 
brilliant talents and amiable manners that dis- 
tinguished both ladies. Mrs. Cholmondely pos- 
sessed a warm heart and a cultivated under- 
standing ; she loved admiration much, but she 
valued friendship more. These qualities form 
a sufficient foundation for an intimate union of 
minds : for as to " des ames qui se sont touches 
par tous les points de coherence," they are only 
to be found in the dreams of Rousseau, while 
we remain in this sublunary state of existence. 
During her residence in London, Mrs. Sheri- 
dan was made happy in a renewal of intercourse 
with her favourite brother, Richard Chamber- 
lain e, who was married and settled as a surgeon 
in Beaufort Buildings. This gentleman valued 
his sister's society so highly, that he never failed, 
after going his medical rounds, to pass a part 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 233 

of every evening that he could spare at her 
house. 

One more London acquaintance of Mrs. 
Sheridan's I shall introduce to the reader ; this 
was Mrs., or (as she liked to be distinguished) 
Catherine Macauley. 

Mrs. Lefanu, of Dublin, then a fine intelli- 
gent girl of between nine and ten years of age, 
used to give a humorous account of the first 
interview between these literary ladies. 

Mrs. Macauley introduced herself by com- 
plimenting Mrs. Sheridan upon her novel ; 
Mrs. Sheridan, as in duty bound, replied by 
complimenting Mrs. Macauley upon her his- 
tory; and the manner of both gave Miss Sheri- 
dan the idea that neither of them had read 
the works of the other. Mrs. Macauley did 
not appear to her to have any of those charms 
so profusely ascribed to her by a female bio- 
grapher :* neither was there any thing of that 
levity or extravagance of dress imputed to her 
by one of the other sex.t Mrs. Macauley struck 

* Mary Hayes's Biographical Dictionary of Celebrated 
Women. f Boswell's Johnson. 



234 MEMOIRS OF 

Miss Sheridan as a plain woman, — pale, tall, 
cold, and formal; with nothing reprehensible 
in her manner s> nor any thing peculiarly fasci- 
nating in her address. 

At a subsequent period, Mrs. Macauley is 
said to have given occasion for remark, by the 
luxury and extravagance of her establishment, 
by the affected form of her cards of invitation, 
" Catherine Macauley At Home to the Li- 
terati :" and by a degree of gaiety, and co- 
quetry of the toilette, that was deemed incon- 
sistent with republican simplicity. But let us 
be just to the memory of a very uncommon 
female, who rose above the disadvantages and 
deficiencies of education, at a time that lite- 
rature was not cultivated among women as it is 
at present. Small could not be the industry 
and perseverance of a woman, who, under these 
circumstances, was able to raise herself to rank 
with the historians of her country ; nor was the 
merit inconsiderable of that person, who was 
admired by Cowper, and quoted with appro- 
bation by Mr. Fox. 

The talents of Mrs. Sheridan were of a 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. C 2S5 

sort more popular and generally amusing. In 
the end of this year she had finished ano- 
ther comedy, entitled " The Dupe," which 
was read with approbation at her own house 
by the assembled performers. It was pro- 
nounced by several of the best judges to be 
possessed of equal merit with the first, and 
sanguine expectations were entertained of its 
ultimate success : but, like Goldsmith's " Good- 
natured Man," which was ill-received by the 
audience that had welcomed with smiles his 
first effort, " She Stoops to Conquer," " The 
Dupe " was fated to experience the mutability 
of public opinion ; aided, in a great measure, 
by the theatrical cabals of a popular actress, 
who had conceived herself ill-used by Mr. 
Sheridan, and knew there was no way to wound 
him more effectually than through the being 
whom, upon earth, he most loved and valued. 

The " popular actress," alluded to in the 
account of this transaction, I suspect to be 
Mrs. Clive ; who had vowed immortal hatred to 
Mr. Sheridan, for a cause sufficiently ludicrous. 



236 MEMOIRS OF 

This actress, unrivalled in comic humour, and 
valued for her talents in private life, by such 
judges as Horace Walpole, and Dr. Johnson, 
not content with these legitimate tributes to her 
merit, aimed at characters in tragedy, for which 
the plainness of her person totally disqualified 
her. Mr. Sheridan used humorously to term 
the Green-room " The Limbo of Vanity :" 
and so indeed we must pronounce it, when we 
find Mrs. Clive insisting on playing the beauti- 
ful and interesting Monimia, in Otway's tragedy 
of " The Orphan ;" and, because Mr. Sheridan 
refused to play Chamont to her Monimia, she 
from that moment put herself at the head of a 
party against him. 

If Mrs. Sheridan was thus made the innocent 
victim of the malice of an actress, she had at 
the same time reason to applaud the liberality 
and gentlemanly conduct of a bookseller. Mil- 
lar, who had purchased " The Dupe," shortly 
afterwards sent Mrs. Sheridan an additional 
hundred pounds besides the copy-right, with 
the following polite letter. 



MRS. PRANCES SHERIDAN. 237 

" Madam : Believe me I am truly concerned 
that your comedy has met with such severe, 
and, without flattery I must add, such unde- 
served treatment on the stage. Neither am I 
singular in this opinion : the rapid sale of it is 
an undeniable proof of its merit, which the 
public have not been blind to in the closet. 
The demand for your piece at my shop has 
been so uncommonly great, that, exclusive of 
the copy-money, it has enabled me to present 
you with the enclosed, of which I entreat your 
acceptance, as a small testimony of that gra- 
titude and respect, with which I have the 
honour to subscribe myself, 
" Madam, 
" Your most obliged, 

" And obedient humble servant, 

" Andrew Millar." 

At this critical juncture, the absence of Mr. 
Sheridan in Ireland upon necessary business, 
made it harder for Mrs. Sheridan to sustain this 
unlooked-for blow in her literary career ; as she 
was accustomed on every occasion to look up 



238 MEMOIRS OF 

to her husband for consolation, guidance, and 
support. 

That she felt deeply this disappointment to 
her interest and her fame is evident, from the 
manner in which she alludes to the circumstance 
in the subjoined " Ode to Patience:" " Though 
by injurious Joes borne down," &c. In this 
stanza it is placed first in order, though it was, 
at the time of writing the poem, the last event 
that had occurred to exercise the fortitude and 
equanimity of Mrs. Sheridan. 



ODE TO PATIENCE. 

Una wed by threats, unmoved by force, 
My steady soul pursues her course, 

Collected, calm, resign'd. 
Say, ye, who search with curious eyes, 
The spring whence human actions rise, 

Say, whence this turn of mind ? 

'Tis Patience. — Gentle Goddess, hail ! 
O, let thy votary's vows prevail, 
Thy threaten'd flight to stay : 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 239 

Long hast thou been a welcome guest, 
Long reign'd an inmate in this breast, 
And ruled with gentle sway. 

Through all the various turns of fate, 
Ordain'd me in each several state, 

My wayward lot has known-r- 
What taught me silently to bear, 
To curb the sigh, to check the tear, 

When sorrow weigh'd me down ? 

'Twas Patience. — Temperate Goddess, stay ! 
For still thy dictates I obey, 

Nor yield to Passion's power ; 
Though by injurious foes borne down, 
My fame, my toil, my hopes o'erthrown 

In one ill-fated hour. 

When robb'd of her I held most dear, 
My hands adorned the mournful bier 

Of her I loved so well : 
What, when mute sorrow chain'd my tongue, 
As o'er the sable hearse I hung* 

Forbade the tide to swell ? 

'Twas Patience. — Goddess ever calm, 
Oh ! pour into my breast thy balm ; 
That antidote to pain : 



240 MEMOIRS OF 

* Which, flowing from thy nectar'd urn, 
By chemistry divine can turn 
Our losses into gain. 

When sick, and languishing in bed, 
Sleep from my restless couch had fled, 

Sleep — which even pain beguiles : 
What taught me calmly to sustain 
A feverish being rack'd with pain, 

And drest my looks in smiles ? 

'Twas Patience. — Heav'n-descended Maid, 
Implored, flew swiftly to my aid, 

And lent her fostering breast : 
Watch' d my sad couch with parent care, 
Repell'd th' approaches of Despair, 

And sooth'd my soul to rest. 

What, when dissever'd from his side, 
My friend, protector, and my guide ; 

When my prophetic soul, 
Anticipating all the storm, 
Saw danger in its direst form, 

What could my fears controul ? 

* " Patience, sovereign o'er transmuted ill." 

Vanity of Human Wishes. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 241 

'Twas Patience. — Gentle goddess, hear, 
Be ever to thy suppliant near, 

Nor let one murmur rise : 
For still some mighty joys are given, 
Dear to her soul, the gifts of heaven, 

The sweet domestic ties. 

This, if merely a poetic boast, would have 
had little to recommend it ; but it becomes an 
interesting picture of the consolations of poetry 
and philosophy to an elegant mind, when we 
refer to the character of the author, whose 
children remember her to have ever soothed, by 
her unchangeable mildness, the severest irri- 
tations of spirits in her husband ; while her 
understanding, when he consulted it, was sure 
to add new lights to his own. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Sheridan were in the habit 
of writing poetry for their amusement. Very 
little of Mr. Sheridan's manuscript compositions 
in verse remain. A copy of verses on Mrs. Wof- 
fington's inimitable performance of " Phaedra," 
written by him with all the fire and discrimi- 
nation of kindred genius, appeared in an Irish 



242 MEMOIRS OF 

collection, and was much admired at the time ; 
but I have not been able to recover it. The 
one with which I venture to present the reader, 
is short, and of a lighter cast. It has the 
merit of being historical, and is the literal ver- 
sification of the genuine reply of a dutiful 
young gentleman to his maternal ancestor. 



EPIGRAM, 

BY THOMAS SHERIDAN, A.M. 

(Being the Answer of the Hon. John Spencer to his Grandmother, 
Sarah Dv chess of Marlborough. J 

With her offspring around, as she sat at a feast, 

Old Sarah, delighted, thus said to each guest : 

" Fill your glasses, my lads, and drink health to the root, 

" Whence so many fair branches thus thrivingly shoot." 

" Ah Madam !" quoth Jack, with a bow most profound, 

" The branches ne'er thrive, while the root's above ground." 

While inserting miscellaneous pieces, I am 
tempted here to add an Apologue, composed 
by Dr. Sheridan when a youth, at the request 
of his father, and never published in any former 
collection. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 243 

AFFLICTION, 

An Apologue. 

As Affliction one day sat on the sea-shore, 
she leaned her head on her hand, and seemed 
to cast her eye at a distance on the swelling 
ocean. Wave succeeded to wave, and tear after 
tear stole down her pallid cheek. The polished 
pebbles, intermingled with shells of unfading 
colours, drew her attention, while her imagi- 
nation traced a variety of pictures in the for- 
tuitous assemblage. As Affliction has amuse- 
ments, as well as other affections of the mind, 
she traced a figure on the shining sand with a 
branch of willow, which she called Man. Jupiter 
happened to pass that way, and was so struck 
with the ease and proportion of the lineaments, 
that he inspired the figure with life. A contest 
now arose. The Earth claimed the image, as 
having furnished the materials that composed it. 
Affliction cried, " it is mine ; your materials were 
of no value till I traced the Form." Lastly Ju- 
piter preferred his claim, as having called that 

R 2 • 



244 MEMOIRS OF 

form into life and motion. The Gods having 
heard every argument the claimants could urge, 
pronounced this solemn decree : " Man shall 
be the property of Affliction during his life. 
When he ceases to breathe, the materials of 
which his frame is composed shall return to 
earth ; while his spirit shall ascend to inhabit the 
celestial regions, justly restored to Jupiter who 
bestowed it." 

The Spring of 1764 brought Mrs. Sheridan 
some consolation after her numerous trials. 
Mr. Sheridan, who had been playing with 
great eclat in Dublin through the winter, re- 
turned to her ; and though in Ireland he had 
experienced a good deal of the perfidy and 
villainy of mankind, he had received from the 
fair sex a distinguished compliment, to which 
he was peculiarly sensible. On his re-appearance 
in the character of Hamlet, Nov. 11, 1763, 
Lady Northumberland* (whose husband had 
just been appointed Lord Lieutenant) stood up 

* The Lady Elizabeth, daughter of the Duke of Somer- 
set, and afterwards justly distinguished as the great and 
good Duchess of Northumberland. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. £45 

in her box, upon which all the ladies present 
followed her example, and welcomed Mr. Sheri- 
dan by the very unusual and marked tribute of 
personal applause. 

Of the virtues of women in general, Mr. She- 
ridan had a very favourable opinion, and he was 
often heard to observe, that in the distressing 
vicissitudes of his fortune, he had met, in his 
female friends, with more generosity, more dis- 
interestedness, and far greater steadiness of at- 
tachment than among men. The female heart 
did not grow cold at the aspect of calamity, 
and the sympathies of woman were ever ready 
at the call of unmerited distress. 

Once restored to her friend and protector, 
Mrs. Sheridan did not let her dramatic disap- 
pointment weigh heavily upon her spirits ; for 
we find her accompanying her husband to Bath 
and Bristol, where he gave lectures on oratory , 
and where she, with the vivid susceptibility to 
innocent pleasures which is often the attribute of 
a virtuous mind, became quite an enthusiast for 
the merit of the Linleys. 

r 3 



246 MEMOIRS OF 

It was there that Mrs. Sheridan became first 
acquainted with that interesting family. Pos- 
sessing a fine voice, and a considerable taste in 
music, she availed herself of this opportunity to 
take lessons in singing from Mr. Linley. The 
peculiar expression and pathos that mark the 
Linley and Jackson school, opened a new world 
of harmony to her senses, of which she was never 
weary : her enthusiasm continued, on returning 
alone with her daughter to London, and the 
eldest Miss Sheridan, who slept with her mother, 
remembered being kept awake during the night 
by Mrs. Sheridan's repeating the last song she 
had learnt from Linley.* 

* " In a vale clothed with woodlands," &c. 

Never perhaps was there a family so highly gifted in its 
numerous members. When Thomas Linley (the lamented 
Lycidas of Mrs. Elizabeth Sheridan's poem) was a very little 
boy, he was already a proficient on the violin. A gentleman 
who had been complimenting the elder Mr. Linley upon the 
dawning talents of his charming daughters* observing little 
Tom, asked him, " Are you, too, musical, my little man ?", 
" Oh yes, Sir," replied Tom Linley with naivete, " We are 
all geniuses !" 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 247 

While Mrs. Sheridan was thus employing her 
moments of leisure, her husband was received 
with the greatest marks of civility by the Bris- 
tolians : who, however they may have been 
vilified for want of taste, by literary people of 
irregular habits or immoral principles, left on 
Mr. Sheridan's mind a strong impression of the 
urbanity, politeness, and good sense of that 
distinguished and wealthy community. 

A copy of verses upon Mr. Sheridan, by a 
very young lady of that city, was handed to the 
Orator; who read them, liked them, andprophe- 
cied favourably of the poetic talents of the fair 
author. There is something interesting in the 
first efforts of youthful genius, particularly in 
a female, which lays hold of the mind, and 
inspires a fond partiality, not to be afterwards 
renewed by more laboured and finished pro- 
ductions. Mr. Sheridan on this occasion, how- 
ever, proved not to be blinded by self-love, or 
propitiated by flattery, for the muse whose first 
lisping accents were in his praise at the age of 
timid and blushing fifteen, has since approved 

r 4 



^48 MEMOIRS OF 

herself honourably to the world in the nume- 
rous and valuable productions of Miss Hannah 
More. 

On leaving Bristol, Mr. Sheridan proceeded 
to Richmond, where he remained a few days 
on a visit to his friend Mr. Aikenhead, while 
Mrs. Sheridan was in London preparing for 
their expedition to Scotland. During this visit 
to London, the life of Mrs. Sheridan was en- 
dangered by an accident, for which she was ever 
afterwards careful to avoid giving occasion. 
Being deeply engaged, one night, reading in 
bed, she was so interested in her book that she 
did not perceive a part of the curtain had taken 
fire till aroused from her abstraction by a smell 
of burning. She then hastily called for assist- 
ance, which was administered just in time to 
prevent the bed-clothes from being in a blaze. 
Mrs. Sheridan from that time forward ever 
avoided the absurd and dangerous indulgence 
of reading in bed by candle-light. 

Edinburgh was, both to Mrs. Sheridan and her 
husband, a scene of very agreeable remem- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 249 

brances. In a visit paid about two years before 
to that city, Mr. Sheridan had met in public 
with the most distinguished approbation of his 
plans, and in private with the most flattering 
attentions from individuals. He could reckon 
among his encouragers the first names the 
period had to boast for virtue and talent ; and 
had received the high honour of the freedom of 
the city, which was presented to him by the 
hands of Dr. Robertson, the historian. Mrs. 
Sheridan, too, had formed some pleasing private 
friendships ; among which was Lady Maxwell, 
of whose talents and understanding she con- 
ceived so high an opinion, that she could have 
felt no surprise had she lived to witness the 
powers of mind, and versatility of acquirement, 
of that lady's most distinguished daughter, the 
late Duchess of Gordon. 

The course of lectures Mr. Sheridan had to 
deliver in Edinburgh detained him in that city 
till August. 

Learning that he could live much more rea- 
sonably in France upon the pension it pleased 



250 MEMOIRS OF 

his Majesty graciously to allow him, it had 
long been Mr. Sheridan's intention, as soon 
as peace between the two countries should ren- 
der such a plan feasible, to retire thither for a 
time, and recruit his finances. Different reasons 
had hitherto frustrated this plan ; but in Sep- 
tember, 1764, he put it in execution, and em- 
barked for Calais 5 taking with him his wife, 
his two daughters, and his eldest son, Charles 
Francis Sheridan. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 251 



CHAPTER VIIL 

Right Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan.— Anecdotes of Ri- 
chard Brinsley at Harrow. — Journey of Mr. and Mrs. 

Sheridan in France. — Baptiste Paris — Hotel de Picar- 

die. — Clairon — Blois — Whimsical Inducement to Mr. 
Sheridan to settle there. — Story of Mademoiselle Hemin. 
— The Cottage of the Loire. — Correction of a Miscon- 
struction in the "Memoirs" of R. B. Sheridan.— Madame 
Des Combes. — Comic Anecdotes. — Story of Poor Robin. 
— Respect shewn to Mr. Sheridan by the travelling Eng- 
lish. — Friendliness of the French. — Anecdote of Father 
Mark. — Melancholy story of an English Lady. — Extraor- 
dinary Anecdote of another Lady.— Family of Montigny. 

The paternal anxiety of Mr. Sheridan on 
leaving Richard behind him, for all his children 
were inexpressibly dear to him, was alleviated 
by the consideration that he was under the care 
of the Rev. Dr. Robert Sumner, his best friend. 
The intimacy between them began, as has been 
before related, during Mr. Sheridan's residences 
at Windsor, when Dr. Sumner was a master at 
Eton ; and it was so great, that whenever Dr. 



^52 MEMOIRS OF 

Sumner went up to town, and Mr. Sheridan was 
in the country, the confidential servant left in 
his lodgings had orders to get them in readiness 
the same as for her master ; and Dr. Sumner 
made Mr. Sheridan's home his temporary abode. 
Dr. Sumner, now head master of Harrow 
School, repaid this kindness by the particular 
attention he paid to Richard Brinsley Sheridan, 
who had been placed there about two years 
before ; he had him an inmate of his house, and 
in every way supplied the place of a parent to 
him. In the Memoirs of Richard Brinsley 
Sheridan, pages 162, 163, 164, &c, an idea is 
given that he passed through his school course 
without credit or approbation. That a boy 
might not be an attentive student at Harrow, 
and yet afterwards dazzle the world with his 
astonishing abilities, we have proof irrefragable ; 
but Richard, though not distinguished for regu- 
lar application, was far from deserving or incur- 
ring the neglect hinted by his biographer, p. 
I67 : " Richard Brinsley Sheridan was in his 
eighteenth year when he quitted Harrow ; where 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 253 

he neither formed any particular friendships, 
nor left behind him any pleasing marks of re- 
membrance. 5 ' — Memoirs of the Public and 
Private Life ofR. B. Sheridan, 

This is not correct: Mr. R. B. Sheridan was 
only in his seventeenth year when he quitted 
Harrow. The assertion that he formed no 
friendships is equally ill grounded, as he re- 
tained several pleasing juvenile intimacies ; the 
objects of which were afterwards kindly received 
at his father's house. Sir William Jones, Messrs. 
Glanville, Home, Cummings, and Halhed, the 
orientalist, were among his principal intimates. 
Here I have the advantage of quoting the testi- 
mony of the Reverend Dr. Parr, who kindly 
permits me to make use of his own words on 
the occasion, with regard to the general esti- 
mation in which Richard Brinsley Sheridan 
was held at Harrow : — " This I well remember : 
though neither masters nor boys looked upon 
Sheridan as a good scholar, they one and all 
liked him ; and the minds of all were impressed 
with an indistinct notion that his natural powers 
were uncommonly great," 



&54 MEMOIRS OF 

Richard Brinsley was in some degree in- 
structed by Dr. Parr, then the first assistant in 
Harrow School. The care of his pecuniary 
concerns, in the absence of his parents, devolved 
on his maternal uncle, Mr. Richard Chamber- 
laine ; and though he, of course, allowed his 
nephew every reasonable indulgence, a little 
incident which happened at that time placed 
Richard Brinsley' s love of frolic, opposed to 
his uncle's prudent economy, in a ludicrous 
point of view. On occasion of the grand annual 
contest for the silver arrow, Richard Brinsley 
was not a competitor for the prize of archery ; 
but distinguished himself by the delivery of a 
Greek oration. This, as he was intended for 
one of the learned professions, was a very judi- 
cious arrangement, as it exhibited his profici- 
ency in scholarship ; and, in the embarrassed 
state of his father's circumstances, was far pre- 
ferable to a frivolous competition, which in- 
volved a considerable degree of expense. So 
perhaps reasoned Mr. Richard Chamberlain e ; 
but if he did so, his nephew was determined to 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDxlN. Q55 

disappoint the old gentleman in any economical 
views he might have had in favouring this 
arrangement. The Greek oration was to be deli- 
vered in the character of a military commander ; 
and as the notions of costume were not so strict 
in those days as they are at present, Richard 
Brinsley, of his own authority, ordered the uni- 
form of an English general officer to be made up 
for the occasion. Accordingly, on the impor- 
tant day he appeared, not, indeed, in the elegant 
dress of an archer of Harrow ; but in the 
equally expensive one of a military chief. Mr. 
Chamberlaine, to whom of course his tailor's 
bill was delivered, severely remonstrated with 
him on this unexpected piece of extravagance. 
Sheridan respectfully replied, that, as the speech 
was to be delivered in a martial character, he 
did not think the effect would have been com- 
plete without an appropriate dress ; and that 
indeed so deeply was he himself impressed with 
that feeling, that he was sure if he had not been 
properly habited, he could not have delivered a 
word of the oration. 



%56 MEMOIRS OF 

What necessary connexion there was between 
Greek and scarlet and gold regimentals, poor 
Mr. Chamberlaine could not exactly see ; he 
was obliged, however, to overlook his nephew's 
vanity and love of shew, not without a shrewd 
suspicion that the pleasure of hoaxing him had 
a share in Brinsley's suddenly declared martial 
taste. 

Mr. Aikenhead, a splendid West-Indian, who 
had a villa at Richmond, was, with his lady, 
among those who, in the absence of his parents, 
paid the greatest attention to Richard Brinsley. 
This Mr. Aikinhead was an old friend of Mr. 
Sheridan's, and all the vacations of his son were 
spent either at the town or country residence of 
that gentleman, who is well known as an ama- 
teur of fashion in the literary and theatrical his- 
tory of the day. If Richard Brinsley was thus 
beloved by his masters, school-fellows, and ac- 
quaintances, he was no less fortunate in conci- 
liating the regard of persons in an humbler 
sphere : Mrs. Purdon, the respectable house- 
keeper at Harrow, showed him, during his resi- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. $5J 

dence there, the attentions of a mother. After 
he had left school a considerable time, and was 
at Bath, this worthy woman had the misfortune 
to lose a little daughter, of whom Richard 
Brinsley had been remarkably fond : as a friend, 
who she felt assured would take an interest in 
her misfortune, Mrs. Purdon sent Mr. Sheridan 
on this occasion a mourning ring ; and he, who 
was possessed of much native tenderness of 
heart, was greatly affected, both on hearing of 
the untimely death of the child, and receiving 
this testimonv of the remembrance of his humble 
friend. As for Dr. Sumner himself, Mr. R. B. 
Sheridan ever remembered him with sentiments 
of the highest gratitude, regard and veneration ; 
and on the death of that enlightened and dis- 
tinguished man, bewailed him with the affection 
he owed to a second parent.* 

* P. 535, " Memoirs of the Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan," 

it is said, " In an early part of these Memoirs some doubt 

was expressed respecting his claim to the version of the Love 

Epistles of Aristenaetus ; but subsequent information has 

g confirmed 



258 MEMOIRS OF 

To return from this long digression to the 
principal subject of our narrative. 

The elder Mr. Sheridan, in order to accom- 
modate his family, travelled in a coach, and 
had also a post-chaise. At Calais he was en- 
countered by a poor fellow, soi-disant Italian, 
though his name of Baptiste rather bespoke 
him of Gallic origin, who besought Mr. 
Sheridan's permission to accompany him to 
Paris in the quality of domestic ; alleging as 

confirmed his right to a share in that translation, in conjunc- 
tion with Mr. Halhed, the orientalist." 

Now the passage alluded to is in the first volume, and is as 
follows : 

" He is said by one of his biographers to have joined with 
another gentleman, in translating the Epistles of Aristenaetus 
from the Greek. There was indeed a version of that writer's 
letters published by Wilkie, in the year 1771 ; but though 
it is not unlikely that Richard Sheridan might have had some 
concern in polishing the language, or correcting the sheets 
for the press, it is certain that he had not the smallest share 
in the translation." — Watkins's Memoirs, p. 171 — 2. 

Now this appears to us rather a strong manner of expres- 
sing "some doubt." 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 259 

his reason, that if allowed to pass for an 
English gentleman's servant, he need only tra- 
vel on horseback, but otherwise the arbitrary 
impositions of the French landlords would oblige 
him to take a guide, an additional expense he 
could very ill afford. In all modern books of 
travels we are warned against the officiousness of 
these adventurers, who offer their services with 
a boldness and pertinacity truly astonishing to us 
reserved islanders ; but Mr. Sheridan, who pos- 
sessed a great fund of good-nature, could not 
find it in his heart to refuse the poor fellow's 
request ; and as for utility, Baptiste, if his own 
word might be taken, was equal to La Fleur for 
excellence in every department. 

At the end of the first day's journey, Bap- 
tiste presented himself officiously at the portiere, 
to assist the family to alight. The first person 
it was his lot to hand out was the eldest Miss 
Sheridan ; and though she was at that time a 
slight young girl, her supporter gave way be- 
neath her weight, and down came poor Bap- 
tiste and the affrighted young lady together. 



260 MEMOIRS OF 

This was an unpromising beginning, but Bap- 
tiste was profuse in his apologies. The truth 
now appeared : that of whatever other perfec- 
tions as a domestic he might be possessed, follow- 
ing his master as a groom was not one of them, 
for he alleged in his excuse that he was tired 
and jaded to death ; adding, in a most doleful 
tone, " Ah, Sir ! I never in my life was so long 
upon one horse before." Other accomplish- 
ments as useful as horsemanship were, however, 
displayed by Baptiste : to a family imperfectly 
acquainted with the French language he proved 
invaluable ; and during Mr. Sheridan's short 
stay in Paris he so recommended himself by his 
dexterity, understanding and attention, as to 
render a valet de place wholly an unnecessary 
addition to his establishment. 

Leaving his family at the inn, Mr. Sheridan's 
first care at Paris was to look out lodgings for 
them ; and having fixed on handsome apart- 
ments in the Hotel de Picardie, he sent Baptiste 
to convey his wife and children thither. Having 
seen the family safe into the carriage, Baptiste 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 26l 

directed the postillion by simply saying " Hotel 
de Picardie." Mrs. Sheridan, who understood 
French very imperfectly, heard only the word 
" Picardie," and was instantly seized with the 
wildest and most insupportable alarms : all that 
she had read and heard of arrests and arbitrary 
imprisonments in the country in which they had 
sought an asylum, recurred to her terrified 
imagination. They had passed through Picardy 
in their way to Paris ; and she now fancied she 
was to be compelled, with her children, to return 
thither, while her husband was forcibly con- 
veyed to some different destination, far from 
her soothing affection, which always desired to 
share with him every danger. Her ignorance 
of the language, the habit she had of relying in 
every difficulty on the presence of her husband, 
the unhappiness of mind that she had long ex- 
perienced from rinding the most honourable in- 
tentions insufficient to preserve him from the 
gripe of ruthless creditors, all tended to foster 
this illusion. She had sufficient command over 
her feelings to conceal these agonizing appre- 

s 3 



262 MEMOIRS OF 

hensions from her children during the course of 
their short drive ; but when they stopped at the 
hotel, and Mr. Sheridan, who was always a good 
and gay traveller, welcomed them with some 
exultation, to the handsome lodgings he had so 
speedily procured for them, he found Mrs. 
Sheridan unable any longer to support herself. 
The strong revulsion of joy at seeing him well 
and in security, had proved too much for her, 
and she was seized in the hall of the hotel with 
violent hysterics. The strength of Mrs. Sheri- 
dan's frame was insufficient to cope with the 
deep sensibilities of her mind ; but for this strong 
sensibility she had fortitude sufficient to sustain 
the severest trials : it was in this point alone she 
was vulnerable ; and in the midst of all her 
assumed self-command, remained a female, sub- 
ject to all the cruel alarms and sufferings that 
distinguish the feminine character. 

Mr. Sheridan remained about ten days at 
Paris, seeing every thing most worthy of notice. 
He was particularly struck with the acting of 
the ." sublime Clairon ;" and upon afterwards 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 263 

becoming acquainted with Mrs. Siddons, often 
compared the styles of those two celebrated 
actresses, who, in his opinion, came nearer to 
perfection than any he had ever beheld. He then 
proceeded with his family to Blois. Mr. Sheridan 
was at first uncertain what stay he should make 
there ; a trifling incident helped to determine him. 
" When you have no decided will of your 
own," says the agreeable author of the Diary 
of an Invalid, " the best way I believe is to 
commit yourself to the tide of events." — Such 
at the time was the case with Mr. Sheridan. He 
had determined on retiring into France, but 
was as yet undecided in what part of it he 
might finally settle. While he and Mrs. Sheri- 
dan were taking some refreshment and repose, 
his eldest daughter, with the liveliness of child- 
hood, anxious to explore the beauties of a scene 
so novel to her, took her little sister by the 
hand and quitted the inn. They had not pro- 
ceeded far when they were alarmed by the face 
of a little old woman at a window, so puckered 
and wrinkled that it gave her exactly the ap- 
s.4 



264 MEMOIRS OF 

pearance of a witch or little old fairy, who, both 
by signs and by calling endeavoured to induce 
them to stop. Frightened at her appearance, 
they only redoubled their speed, when a noise 
of steps sounding from behind, convinced them 
the little old lady had not given up her purpose, 
and they were speedily overtaken by a decent 
looking man, who respectfully apologized for 
the alarm he had given them, but said he was 
deputed by the lady who lodged with him to 
induce them to turn back and enter his house. 
Convinced by the nian's manner that no harm 
was intended, and urged by a little curiosity, 
the children, no longer terrified, consented to 
turn back with him. They were received very 
graciously by the old lady, who informed them 
in broken English that she was their country- 
woman ; that observing them from the window, 
and seeing by their dress they were English 
girls, she could not deny herself the pleasure 
(so long unknown to her) of conversing with 
some one from her dear country. She then set 
fruit before them ; and, contriving to make 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 265 

herself intelligible, although, owing to her long 
absence from England, her language was 
scarcely so, she asked them who they were, 
whence they came, and whether their parents 
intended to fix their residence at Blois, or were 
merely passing through it. To the first ques- 
tions the children returned satisfactory answers: 
as to the latter, they replied very truly that they 
were ignorant of the intentions of their parents. 
" Well, my dears," said the interrogator, " if 
you will let me see your father perhaps I may 
be of use to him." Having devoted a few mo- 
ments more to " make a toilette," that is, to 
exchange a morning jacket of cotton for a little 
silk negligee, this singular being set out with 
the two Miss Sheridans for the inn where their 
parents had stopped. Introduced to Mr. 
Sheridan, she informed him with a low courtesy 
that she was a " poor little English girl ;" for 
so Mademoiselle Hemin, having almost forgot 
her English, translated " fille," or " demoi- 
selle," being an unmarried woman. Her 
father Monsieur Hemin (perhaps the right way 



%66 MEMOIRS OF 

of spelling it, would have been Heming or Hem- 
mings) was an English Jacobite officer, who 
had followed the fortunes of James the Second. 
On his death, the French government, com- 
passionating the forlorn situation of his sur- 
viving daughter, had gratified her with a very 
small pension. But, alas ! poor Mademoiselle 
Hemin was one of those whom, as Fontenelle 
said of himself^ death seemed to have forgotten. 
She lived on to extreme old age, beyond the 
memory of the first granters of her little provi- 
sion, and the French government wisely con- 
cluding that if she was not dead, she ought to 
have been so, had for some time past struck 
her name out of the pension list. From that 
period she had supported herself chiefly by the 
very small and humble trade of pricking thim- 
bles ! — Yet though arrived almost at the verge of 
existence and grown down to the size of a little 
child, she still preserved her cheerfulness, and ex- 
hibited the dress and manners of a gentlewoman. 
On repeating to Mr. Sheridan the same ques- 
tions she had asked his daughters respecting 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 26? 

his stay, Mr. Sheridan replied that he was 
undecided ; and Mademoiselle Hemin, who 
saw a prospect of advantage to herself in the 
neighbourhood of her compatriots, used every 
argument to determine his choice in favour of 
Blois. " Sir," said she, with an accent of in- 
sinuation, " if you determined on remaining 
here, I could give you a good house, I could 
give you a good garden, good wine," &c. and 
continued to enumerate her power of bestowing 
several other advantages. Mr. Sheridan looked 
with surprise at this little Fairy Good- will, who, 
like her prototypes, though, herself, apparently 
feeble, old, and poor, pretended to the power 
of endowing others with every thing desirable. 
He soon found that Mademoiselle Hemin, in 
her imperfect English, had substituted the word 
"give " for "recommend," and that she meant 
she could point out to him where all the good 
things she enumerated wei'e to be found. Hav- 
ing so far come to an understanding, Mr. 
Sheridan availed himself of her long residence 
at Blois to obtain information, and found 



268 MEMOIRS OF 

Mademoiselle Hemin as good as her word ; for 
she answered his enquiries so satisfactorily, that 
he was induced to take a cottage and garden, 
which she recommended to him, and soon found 
himself commodiously settled with his family 
on the Banks of the Loire. Here he found all 
the advantages of fine air, salubrity, and cheap 
living, that he had promised himself, in retiring 
into France, and here, (notwithstanding some 
misconceptions that have arisen relative to his 
letters and opinions) he spent two of the hap- 
piest years of his life. 

The misconception I would particularly refer 
to, occurs in Dr. Watkiiis, p. 124, relative to 
a passage in a letter written from France by 
Mr. Sheridan, and beginning, " I have had a 
long fit of my old disorder,'' which the Doctor 
naturally enough concludes to mean " low 
spirits," and, reasoning upon these premises, thus 
proceeds : 

" From another letter to the same gentleman, 
(Samuel Whyte) it appears that the change of 
place and leisure for literary employment, could 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 269 

not erase the impression of misfortunes which 
in a considerable degree were the consequences 
of his own imprudence. He affected philosophy 
while he was tortured with impatience, and it is 
evident that the writer of this epistle was at the 
time of his composing it labouring under Hypo- 
chondriasis." 

The expressions from which the biographer 
deduces this inference, are as follow : 

" This malady is to me of the most morti- 
fying nature in the world ; for at a time when 
I was pushing on vigorously a work which it is 
of the utmost importance to me to finish as soon 
as possible, it puts as effectual a stop to my 
progress as if it had deprived me of the use of 
my hands. 

" Its nature is to take the mind prisoner and 
hind up all the faculties. 

" The least attention even to the writing of 
a letter becomes then an insupportable fatigue." 

Now these passages, which the biographer 
applies to Hypochondria, were no other than 
the description of a severe oppression of the 



270 MEMOIRS OF 

head and stomach, to which Mr. Sheridan was 
subject, and which is often the consequence of 
intense mental application. It was aggravated 
in after life by violent and repeated bilious 
attacks. This was entirely a bodily disorder, 
though of a nature, as he describes it, to forbid 
for the time any degree of mental exertion. 
As to low spirits and gloom, though few had 
suffered severer disappointment than Mr. Sheri- 
dan, he possessed a mind remarkably free from 
such impressions. He had in general uniform 
and cheerful spirits, and an elasticity of mind 
that rose unsubdued from the repeated inflic- 
tions of misfortune. 

The satisfaction he experienced at Blois from 
the health and visible improvement of his chil- 
dren forbade him to consider his retiring thither 
in that light. The French language was ac- 
quired with such facility by their young and 
flexible organs, that it soon became necessary 
to appropriate a day in the week to the remem- 
brance and practice of their native English. 
For this easy attainment of the foreign idiom, 



MRS, FRANCES SHERIDAN. 271 

they were also much indebted to their constant 
intercourse with the owner of the cottage, 
Madame des Combes, who reserved one apart- 
ment in it for herself, and was always ready to 
assist her lodgers with every little friendly office 
in her power. 

Madame des Combes was, as the French say, 
" d'ailleurs la meilleure femme du monde" and 
possessed a very engaging simplicity. 

On Mr. Sheridan's complimenting her on the 
strength of her eye-sight, which was such that 
she was able at a very advanced age to read and 
work without glasses, the old lady replied, 
" That some time before they came to Blois, 
her eyes had begun to fail, and she had, in 
consequence, bought a pair of spectacles. 
These were soon broken, and she was obliged 
to replace them with new ones. At length, 
having lost and broken a great many pair, she 
had given up the use of them altogether, and 
"le bon Dieu," knowing her to be a widow, 
and unable to afford to buy any more spectacles, 
had graciously restored her sight." 



27^ MEMOIRS OF 

She delighted in the children's company, and 
often took them with her to public worship ; 
for she could not be made to understand the 
differences in their religious opinions : and as 
whenever she had leisure in the week-days she 
liked to drop into the churches "pour attraper 
un petit bout de messe" as she called it, she could 
not be persuaded but that it must be also an 
advantage to her young lodgers to hear it. In 
one respect her religious forbearance was put to 
a severe trial. Mr. Sheridan, in return for the 
civilities of Madame des Combes, used some- 
times to invite her to dinner, and sometimes to 
send her part of any dish he knew she liked, 
from his own table. It would at times so happen 
that this dish was an excellent meat soup, and 
that Mr. Sheridan, from forgetful ness, sent it to 
his landlady on a Friday. On these occasions 
the servante de cuisine Manon, less hungry, or 
more zealous to observe the fasts of the church, 
would put it away with horror, exclaiming, "Ah, 
madame, c'est gras /"* 

# It is made of flesh or meat. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. Tj3 

The little old lady had then no other means 
of reconciling her conscience but by pointing to 
her ear, and exclaiming, "hem, hem!" to signify 
that she was deaf, and did not understand the 
intimation. Manon would then go up close to 
her, and bawl in her ear, " Madame, c'est gras" 
but could never get any other answer from her 
mistress than "hem, hem!" to signify incurable 
deafness, accompanied by another sign to put 
the soup upon the table. 

It is here that I ought to mention a little inci- 
dent, which a sentimental French writer could 
dress up into a very pathetic story. 

Among the various pets that the children 
were allowed to keep, the eldest Miss Sheridan 
had a favourite lamb, whom she had compas- 
sionately purchased to rescue him from the knife 
of the butcher. This lamb, whose name was 
Robin, was, during his nonage, the plaything of 
the whole family ; but Robin in time grew to 
be a sheep, and evinced symptoms of a mis- 
chievous disposition : he munched and destroyed 
a variety of things in the house, but his protec- 



274 MEMOIRS OF 

tress, unwilling to proceed to extremities, and 
still entertaining hopes he might reform, con- 
tinued to keep him as when he had been her 
favourite and innocent pet lamb. At length, 
however, Robin became so extremely trouble- 
some, that he was, unknown to his mistress, 
sent to a distance from the house. That very 
night, at about twelve o'clock, a most piteous 
bleating was heard at the door of the cottage : 
this was Robin, who had found his way back to 
his gentle mistress again. Such an instance of 
attachment and dog-like sagacity wrought a won- 
derful change in his favour, and it was resolved 
not to banish him from the hospitable roof 
again. 

A few days afterwards, however, Robin was 
found to have extended his depredations to 
some sheets of Mr. Sheridan's Dictionary, fairly 
written out for the press. This last enormity 
was not to be forgiven ; again Robin was 
secretly disposed of. What his fate was, ever 
after remained a mystery, but it was suspected 
that he was restored to the original destina- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 275 

tion from which he had once been rescued. 
So strong was this impression upon the younger 
branches of the family, that for a considerable 
time they could not be prevailed on to touch a 
bit of mutton, lest they should happen unawares 
to dine upon a part of poor Robin. 

Though Mr. Sheridan, upon retiring into 
France, had adopted a plan of rigid economy, 
as the only one suited to the disordered state of 
his affairs, and his high and honourable deter- 
mination to indulge in no unnecessary expense, 
till he had enabled himself to satisfy the most 
impatient of his creditors, yet still he admitted 
to his plain but hospitable table such Englishmen 
as curiosity or inclination conducted to Blois. 
Among the young travelling English of conside- 
ration, who with their tutors made any stay in 
that place, none omitted to pay their respects 
to Mr. Sheridan ; and he had the consolation, in 
his adversity, to observe himself universally the 
object of that regard and attention which his 
talents and unimpeached conduct deserved, 

T 2 



%y6 MEMOIRS OF 

The superior cheapness of living enabled him 
to indulge in this hospitality without transgres- 
sing the limits of economy. Flowers, fruits 
and creams, added an air of luxury to the feast ; 
and the guests, who met rather for the pleasure of 
friendly intercourse and conversation than the ex- 
travagant delicacies of the table, departed always 
satisfied with their entertainment and their host. 
At these friendly meetings the story of their un- 
fortunate countrywoman, Mademoiselle Hemin, 
" the poor little English girl," was incidentally 
introduced by Mr. Sheridan ; and though he 
had in general a just objection to levying con- 
tributions upon others, he did not scruple on 
this occasion to call upon these rich and gene- 
rous young Englishmen ; and a small subscrip- 
tion was set on foot, by which he had soon the 
pleasure of presenting to Mademoiselle Hemin 
the sum of thirty pounds : a little fortune to 
this simple and self-denied being. In order that 
his children might not, by living in a Roman 
Catholic country, forget or lose the religious 
jnpressions in which they were brought up, it 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 277 

was the custom of Mr. Sheridan, as soon as he 
had established order in his little household, to 
read the service of the Church of England every 
Sunday in his own family : a service rendered 
additionally solemn and impressive by his ex- 
cellent manner of delivery. This appeared to 
the English who visited Blois such an advan- 
tage, that they requested permission to join in 
the family worship ; and thus Mr. Sheridan drew 
around him a small Protestant congregation, who 
met with the utmost seriousness and regularity. 
At other times, however, differences of reli- 
gion did not keep him apart from individuals ; 
and Mr. and Mrs. Sheridan found, even in per- 
sons of monastic habits, an exemption from pre- 
judice, that led them cheerfully to cultivate their 
acquaintance. The children frequently visited 
some friendly nuns, with whom they made an 
interchange of little presents ; they went to 
school to some lay sisters, who were, however, 
bound by certain vows.* Mrs. Sheridan took 

* They did not adopt the cloistral seclusion, but they 
T 3 were 



%7% MEMOIRS OF 

lessons in music from a Jesuit ; and one of their 
frequent visitors was Father Mark, an Irish- 
French Capuchin. 

This Father Mark, a very young man, gave 
occasion for a ludicrous anecdote. We have 
already mentioned the lameness of Mrs. Sheri- 
dan, which rendered the support of an arm ne- 
cessary whenever she took an extended walk. 
This, so necessary support, was usually afforded 
by her husband, or Charles her son ; it was also 
her custom, in walking, to make use of an ivory- 
headed cane. One day, having neglected this 
precaution, and Mr. Sheridan being at some 
distance from her, in an excursion they were 
making in the environs of the town, Mrs. She- 
ridan made a sign to Father Mark, who was of 
the party, to come over and give her his arm. 
As he took no notice of this, she called him to 
her, and repeated her request ; but the young 
monk, drawing back with horror, exclaimed 
with a strong Irish brogue, " My character, 

were bound to celibacy, and took a vow of devoting them- 
selves to education and other good works. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 279 

ma'am ! You don't consider my reputation." 
Mrs. Sheridan, who sometimes was subject to 
absence of mind, had quite forgot the monastic 
etiquette, that forbade one of a religious profes- 
sion to offer his arm to a woman ; and Father 
Mark appears to have been one of that number 
of precisians who strain out a gnat and swallow 
a camel ; for soon after thus refusing his need- 
ful support to Mrs. Sheridan, lest he should 
endanger his reputation, he eloped from his 
convent, threw off the frock, and established 
himself in some secular employment in his na- 
tive country of Ireland. 

I have already mentioned, that there was a 
purity of mind and sincerity of manner about 
Mrs. Sheridan, that rendered others unwilling 
to deceive her. A very singular instance of con- 
scientiousness of this sort occurred during her re- 
sidence at Blois. On her first settling there she 
had been visited by a lady, who went by the name 
of the widow of an English gentleman, and who 
was highly respected as such, for the excellence 
of her conduct. She was beautiful in person, and 
t 4 



280 MEMOIRS OF 

elegant in her manners, and a shade of melan- 
choly thatshe never could conquer, only rendered 
her more interesting in the eyes of Mrs. Sheridan, 
who formed a speedy intimacy with her. Some 
time after this intercourse of friendship had taken 
place, the lady informed Mrs. Sheridan, with 
tears, that she repented having forced her friend- 
ship upon her, for that it was impossible to de- 
ceive her any longer. She was not what she 
appeared, nor deserving of the respect and 
estimation in which she was held at Blois by the 
deceived inhabitants. The unhappy lady then 
proceeded to state that she was by birth an 
Englishwoman of good family, and engaged to 
marry a gentleman of equal rank and prospects 
with her own ; but that he, after basely abusing 
the confidence reposed in him, had broken off 
with her when on the point of marriage, and 
only made an allowance for herself and daugh- 
ter, on condition of her retiring into France 
under a borrowed name. Thus were the ap- 
parently fortunate prospects- of this beautiful 
young creature blasted in a moment. Thrown 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 281 

off by her justly offended family, she had followed 
the cruel advice of her lover, who, at the time 
of her making this communication, enjoyed a 
high military rank in England, and regularly 
remitted to her the promised stipend. With 
one old and faithful servant, who was alone ac- 
quainted with the unhappy story, this lady had 
fixed upon Blois as the place of her retreat ; 
where for seventeen years she had conducted 
herself in a manner so exemplary, as to conciliate 
the respect of all the inhabitants ; and though 
from her beauty she had received several ad- 
vantageous offers of marriage, she had steadily 
refused them, from a principle of honour, and 
also of perseverance in her first and ill-requited 
attachment. " Such a protracted period of suf- 
fering," resumed the lady, " in which I have 
endeavoured by strictness of conduct to retrieve 
the error of my youth, seemed, to myself, to 
give me a title to respect ; but there is some- 
thing in you, madam, that forbids me to impose 
a faulty character for a virtuous one. Can you, 
after this candid confession, continue to me 



282 MEMOIRS OF 

your friendship ?" It was not in a disposition 
like Mrs. Sheridan's to refuse an appeal made 
under circumstances that admitted of so many 
palliations ; she warmly assured her unfortu- 
nate countrywoman of the continuance of her 
good- will ; and this mutual regard continued 
unbroken till Mrs. Sheridan's death. 

This forms, however, an exception, not an 
example, of Mrs. Sheridan's usual conduct in 
friendship. In general, the conscientiousness of 
her own mind forbade her forming an intimacy 
with any one, the purity of whose principles 
was not equal to her own. 

A lady whom she had highly regarded, lost 
her husband in America, by the cruel circum- 
stance of his falling into the hands of the tor- 
turing savages, who inflicted on him before 
he expired the most dreadful torments. The 
widow, in the first agonies of grief and horror, 
upon receiving this shocking account, knelt 
down, and solemnly imprecated every sort of 
evil on her own head if she formed a second en- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 283 

gagement; she particularly prayed that she 
might die within the year. 

Notwithstanding this, it will hardly be be- 
lieved that, not very long after her first hus- 
band's death, this ill-fated lady was persuaded 
to take another ! Mrs. Sheridan, justly shocked 
at the infringement of vows so solemnly attested, 
would never thenceforward hold any commu- 
nication with her former friend. In concluding 
this anecdote, I hope it will not be considered 
as any encouragement to superstition to observe, 
that the lady died within the year she had 
herself assigned for the duration of her impious 
engagement. 

Of French families, the only one with which 
Mr. Sheridan contracted any intimacy was that 
of Colonel Montigny, a Canadian, well-known 
as a sufferer in the cause of loyalty in the Ame- 
rican war. The intimacy was brought about in 
a manner unforeseen by Mr. Sheridan ; but as 
the Colonel and his family, like himselfj occu- 
pied a house on the banks of the Loire, it was 
natural for it to take place. 



284 MEMOIRS OF 

The celebrated Colonel Montigny, after hav- 
ing expended, in the American war of 1756, a 
handsome property in the cause of French 
loyalty, had retired upon the cession of Canada, 
with impaired health and a reduced fortune, to 
end his days in France. His family consisted 
of a wife, three sons, and one daughter ; and 
the King, in consideration of his losses and 
services, had honoured him with the Cross of 
St. Louis, and allowed him a pension, equivalent 
in England to about two hundred pounds a 
year : a liberality which was much admired, 
being said to be the largest pension that had 
been ever accorded in France to mere merit. 

As the house occupied by Mr. Sheridan was 
at but a small distance from Colonel Montigny's, 
his children often passed by the door of the 
Colonel : who was not long in forming a par- 
ticular intimacy with the youngest. He used 
frequently to stop, and make her little presents 
of sweetmeats, &c, at the same time that he 
often asked her questions respecting her parents 
and family. One day he missed her, and her 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 285 

absence continuing for several mornings succes- 
sively, he became uneasy for the health and 
welfare of his little friend. 

The fact was as the good Colonel suspected. 
Mr. Sheridan's youngest child, Miss Elizabeth 
Sheridan, had been seized with an aguish com- 
plaint, very common at Blois, which confined 
her to her bed. The morning after Colonel 
Montigny received this intelligence, Mr. Sheri- 
dan, on going up to pay his usual visit to his 
sick child, found the seat by her bed-side occu- 
pied by a tall, sun-burnt, military looking figure, 
habited in a short jacket (a common morning 
dress with French gentlemen), which did not 
add much to the advantages of his appearance. 
This was Colonel Montigny, the defender of 
Canada, whom compassion had led to visit the 
fevered couch of a suffering child. He had 
found the doors open, as in those countries is 
frequently the case from the warmth of the 
climate, and as his little neighbour could no 
longer visit him, had, with the French freedom 
and friendliness of manner, come to pay her a 



286 MEMOIRS OF 

visit in person. The Colonel rose courteously 
at Mr. Sheridan's approach, and informed him 
of the friendship contracted in the open air 
with his youngest daughter, which had led to 
the present friendly visit. Such a combination 
of circumstances could not have taken place 
in any country, where different manners pre- 
vailed. This whimsical introduction was, how- 
ever, productive of the happiest consequences, 
and proved the commencement of an intimacy 
equally agreeable to both parties. 

Madame Montigny had never recovered her 
spirits from the loss of fortune her husband sus- 
tained in America ; she, however, found conso- 
lation in the soothing society of Mrs. Sheridan. 
Mademoiselle Montigny, her daughter, (after- 
wards distinguished at Blois as a celebrated 
belle) was all life and spirits. She was not at 
that time beautiful, but had rather what may 
be denominated a pretty and whimsical coun- 
tenance ; with such a wonderful activity, that 
Mr. Sheridan gave her, in allusion to her Indian 
birth, and the oddity and suddenness of her 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 287 

motions, the surname of " Friday." This was 
translated to Mademoiselle Montigny, who did 
not understand a word of English : but still as 
she had never read Robinson Crusoe, she was as 
much in the dark as ever, and would often ex- 
claim " Friday, c'est Vendredi : mais pourquoi 
me dormer le nom de Vendredi — pourquoi pas 
Samedi ?" With this friendly group Mrs. Sheri- 
dan passed many happy hours. Sometimes they 
would go and partake of a little regale at a 
fine garden Mr. Sheridan possessed at a small 
distance from the cottage. On one of these 
occasions Mrs. Sheridan, who, as I mentioned 
before, possessed a fine voice, and an ear for 
music, and who had improved by the instruc- 
tions of her friend the Jesuit on the Spanish 
guitar, sung to the company, accompanying the 
guitar with her voice. Some persons in the 
neighbouring garden, attracted by her perform- 
ance, which was in an arbour, ranged themselves 
on the wall to listen to her, and made a sign to 
her youngest daughter not to betray them. 



288 MEMOIRS OF 

All that Mr. Sheridan anticipated from the 
effects of a milder climate on his wife appeared 
to be happily realized : and such was the benefit 
Mrs. Sheridan seemed to derive from the un- 
common purity of the air, that during the 
first year of her residence at Blois she enjoyed 
better health than she had done for ten years 
before. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 289 



CHAPTER IX. 

Literary Occupations of Mrs. Sheridan resumed. — Critique 
on the Second Part of Sidney Biddulph. — Singular Origin 
of Nourjahad.— Miss Sophia Lee, Author of Canterbury 
Tales. — " Trip to Bath." — Examination into the reports 
about that Comedy.— Mr. Sheridan obliged to go to Ire- 
land. — Decline of Mrs. Sheridan's health. — Amiable dis- 
position and resignation in her sufferings. — Religious bi- 
gotry of her attendants. —Trials of Mrs. Sheridan on her 
Death-bed. — Death. — Respect paid by the French to her 
Remains. 

Mrs. Sheridan availed herself of this inter- 
val of returning health to renew her literary 
occupations. In the space of two years she 
conceived and executed the beautiful oriental 
tale of Nourjahad, and added two additional 
volumes to the novel of Sidney Biddulph, which 
were not published till after her decease. To 
the two last volumes of Sidney Biddulph may 
be applied much of the criticism which was 
made upon the first part. 

u 



^90 MEMOIRS OF 

We meet our old acquaintances Sidney and 
Sir George again : with only those differences 
which we should observe in different portraits 
taken of the same individuals in youth or mid- 
dle life. The additional personages introduced 
chiefly consist of the younger Faulkland, son 
of Orlando, the Audleys, the venerable Price 
(who was only introduced in the preceding vo- 
lumes), and the sweet characters of Mrs. Ar- 
nold's two daughters. 

By many persons the second part of Sidney 
Biddulph was preferred to the first ; as the pro- 
duction of a person who had acquired more ex- 
tensive views of life, and a greater insight into 
character. Her talent for portrait-painting had 
certainly improved ; and the following character 
of the younger Faulkland given by his friend 
Sir Edward Audley, would not disgrace the 
most celebrated models of the country in which 
that style of writing was brought to perfection : 

" It is harder to delineate the traces of this 
young man's mind than of any one's I have 
ever yet known. I have sometimes thought 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 29 1 

this proceeded from the same cause that ex- 
tremely delicate faces are the hardest to be 
drawn. He has no strong lines in his soul, and, 
if I may use the expression, all the features of 
it are faint. I do not think him capable of a 
manly or steady friendship towards one of his 
own sex, or of a violent or constant attachment 
towards one of yours ;" (the letter is addressed 
to his sister) " yet is he the most engaging and 
agreeable companion in the world amongst men, 
and would, to a woman, appear a warm and 
sincere lover. — He likes pleasure, yet enters 
not into it with that juvenile ardour so natural 
to one of his age ; he even sometimes commits 
excesses, but it seems as if he were led into 
them more from the force of example than the 
strength of his passions. He is at times idle 
without being dissipated, and at others busy 
without being studious. He will deny no fa- 
vour that you can ask of him : yet he appears 
not much obliged for those which are granted 
to him. — In short he does the best and the 
worst things with equal indifference, He loves 

u % 



292 MEMOIRS OF 

expence, yet he by no means despises mo- 
ney ; and I have seen him generous and nig- 
gardly in the same hour ; hasty in forming re- 
solutions, and as ready to break them. He 
has an infinite deal of vanity; but he has still 
more art in concealing it : and I believe that I 
am the first who ever discovered that he had 
either. With all this, he has very good sense, 
and an address, insinuating beyond any thing 
I ever met with. His faults seem all complex- 
ional, so are his virtues too, for he is neither 
right nor wrong upon principle, and it appears 
a moot point whether nature intended him for an 
angel or a devil." — (Sidney Biddulph, vol. iv.) 

In this portrait, sketched in France, there are 
characteristic touches that might be compared 
for discrimination with those of a De Retz, or a 
La Bruyere. But it is in the deathbed of the 
pious and suffering heroine, in the closing scene 
of Sidney's eventful life, that the author sets 
her seal upon the whole, and illustrates her 
finely expressed moral, that it is in a future state 
of retribution alone, we can hope for an ex- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 293 

planation of the ways of Providence, and that 
there we shall see all apparently unequal dispen- 
sations justified, and all seeming inconsistencies 
reduced to rule. When every worldly comfort 
vanishes from the sufferer's view, we see Reli- 
gion, like a distant star, shining to light the pure 
and unpretending saint, to receive the rich re- 
ward long laid up for her virtues in Heaven. 
Though the last moments of Sidney are accom- 
panied by every circumstance of bitterness that 
the ingratitude of those she loved, and the dis- 
appointment of her fondest hopes could impart, 
yet we find her firm and collected, and at the 
same time divested of none of her wonted ten- 
derness. After a scene of most affecting pathos, 
which it would be injuring to attempt to abridge, 
she is in the midst of some affectionate injunc- 
tions to her remaining family, when the sudden 
and awful, yet blessed transition from life to 
death, or rather from a living death to life, is 
thus powerfully and impressively described. 

" She stopped short, as if interrupted by some 
sudden and extraordinary emotion ; a fine co- 

u3 



294 MEMOIRS OF 

lour flushed at once into her face, and her 
eyes, which were before sunk and languishing, 
seemed in an instant to have recovered all their 
fire. I never saw so animated a figure ; she 
sprung forward with energy, her arms extended, 
her eyes lifted up with rapture, and with an 
elevated voice she cried out, * I come !' Then, 
sinking down softly on her pillow, she closed 
her eyes, and expired without a sigh." 

Surely it rather increases than detracts from 
the interest with which this passage must be 
read by every pious mind, to learn that it was 
not the creation of fancy, but the actual death- 
bed of a lady whom Mr. Richard Chamberlaine 
attended in the Isle of Man in his medical capa- 
city, and communicated the affecting particu- 
lars to his sister. 

Alas ! she who could so well describe the last 
moments of expiring excellence, was shortly to 
be summoned from every tie that renders life 
endearing, to receive the reward of her own. 

Mrs. Sheridan's last work was the oriental 
tale of Nourjahad. The plan was suggested to 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. %95 

her mind one sleepless night, when from reflect- 
ing upon the inequality in the conditions of men, 
she was led to consider that it is in the due re- 
gulation of the passions, rather than on the out- 
ward dispensations of Providence, that true 
happines or misery depends ; and she conceived 
the idea of the probable condition of a human 
being of a violent and perverse disposition, sup- 
posing his wealth to be inexhaustible, and his 
days extended to infinity. In fancy she beheld 
this being, possessed of the two greatest appa- 
rent goods, riches and immortality, yet devoid of 
any inward principle to restrain the unbounded 
indulgence of his passions. Nourjahad finds in 
those gratified, yet still importunate passions, 
his tormentors, and the two blessings he had 
impatiently coveted transformed into insup- 
portable evils. As this idea acquired form and 
consistency, Mrs. Sheridan represented it as 
entering «*4i : er mind like a kind of vision or 
dream, between sleep and waking ; and though 
this account is very extraordinary, persons of a 
fertile and poetical imagination themselves, 
u 4 



296 MEMOIRS OF 

will see nothing impossible in it. She commu- 
nicated the sketch of the story the next morning 
to her eldest daughter, whose promising talents 
and opening mind Mrs. Sheridan began to take 
great delight in cultivating. When, after the 
death of the author, the romantic eastern tale of 
Nourjahad appeared in print, Miss Alicia She- 
ridan perfectly recollected this circumstance of 
her mother's having related to her the outline 
of the tale before it was thrown upon paper, as 
complete as when it received its rich and inte- 
resting colouring. 

The tale of Nourjahad was originally intended 
as the first of a series of instructive moral fic- 
tions, which the author was to have obtained per- 
mission to dedicate to His present Most Gracious 
Majesty, then the young Prince of Wales. Like 
Mrs. Sheridan's other works, Nourjahad has 
been dramatized. Miss Sophia Lee, author of 
the Canterbury Tales, Chapter of Accidents, &c, 
made a very elegant musical drama of it, which 
she read to Mrs. H. Lefanu ; and another piece 
upon the same subject has been successfully 
brought upon the stage. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 297 

It will be seen by the dates, and by the facts 
in this narration, that the biographer of the 
Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan, was quite mistaken 
in fixing upon Windsor as the scene of the com- 
position of Nourjahad. 

" Windsor was a favourite place with his 
(Mr. Sheridan's) wife, who called it the seat of 
her inspiration. She there completed two of 
her works, the romantic tale of Nourjahad, &c." 
— Memoirs of the Public and Private Life of the 
Right Hon, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, vol. i. 
p. 110. By John Watkins, LL.D. 

At this distance of time, when newer works 
have of course laid hold of the attention of 
the public, a detailed account of all the testi- 
monies of popularity with which the first and 
second parts of Sidney Biddulph were received 
both in France and England, would appear 
scarcely credible ; one or two anecdotes may 
be permitted to the affectionate remembrance 
of the author's family. 

When Mr. Sheridan was at Bath, in 1771-2, 
an old gentleman of the name of Adams took a 



298 MEMOIRS OF 

particular liking to his son Richard Brinsley, and 
shewed him many tokens of friendship ; for this 
partiality he alleged as his original reason, not 
(as was the case with most of Mr. Sheridan's 
acquaintances) the agreeable manners and pro- 
mising talents of the youth, but his being " the 
son of the author of Sidney Biddulph." Many 
ladies, venerable for their years, and distin- 
guished for their rank in society, showed atten- 
tion to Mr. Sheridan's daughters from the same 
partiality to their mother's interesting work ; 
but the elder Mr. Sheridan received a more 
flattering, because totally unintended compli- 
ment to him on his wife's merit from another 
quarter. The first editions of Sidney Biddulph 
were published without the author's name, 
and therefore the person who addressed him 
did not know him to have been the husband 
of the writer she praised. This lady was a 
lively talkative French woman, the wife of a 
Parisian bookseller and publisher of the name 
of De l'Ormel. She had come over with her 
pretty daughter to England, pour recueillir line 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 299 

succession, as the good man was unable to leave 
his business; but, like Lavinia Orthodox and 
her mother in the novel, who on a similar oc- 
casion received and spent the Doctor's legacy, 
one half in millinery, and the other half in 
the purchase of a spinet, Madame and Made- 
moiselle de l'Ormel found the temptations of 
London so numerous, that a great part of the 
money they were to receive was disbursed be- 
fore their return to France. Having suffi- 
ciently amused themselves in London, it occur- 
red to them that it would be a pity to leave 
England without seeing Bath ; and there they 
had arrived to spend the remainder of the 
legacy, when they met Mr. Sheridan's family. 
Madame de l'Ormel told Mr. Sheridan several 
anecdotes of her husband's business; by which 
it appeared, that he, having a just confidence in 
his wife's prudence, sometimes delegated the 
care of the shop to her in his own absence. 
On the last of these occasions, that business 
required his taking a journey of some length, 
he left her absolutely without money to keep 



800 MEMOIRS OF 

the house; on her remonstrating with him 
upon it, M. de l'Ormel said, " I do not, in- 
deed, leave you money, but I leave you mo- 
ney's worth ; you will never want a supply.' ' 
And this representative of specie, c'etoit un 
nowveau roman, c'etoit Biddulphe. "Oui," con- 
tinued Madame de 1'Ormel, " ce sont vos 
Clarices, vos Biddulphes, those are the works 
that bring in the money. I found my hus- 
band's words true, and that I sold more copies 
of Sidney Biddulph than of any other novel 
upon sale." 

Like all popular novels, Sidney Biddulph 
formed a school. I have seen many works 
written in the same style, but none that came 
up to it, either in humour or pathos. 

These are all Mrs. Sheridan's published 
works. In the printed letters of Mrs. Sheri- 
dan from France, mention is made of her hav- 
ing begun a tragedy in prose, upon part of the 
story contained in the two last volumes of 
Sidney Biddulph ; but I can find no traces of 
such a tragedy. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 301 

With her usual elas ticity of spirit, rising 
buoyant from disappointment, Mrs. Sheridan 
had written a comedy called " A Trip to 
Bath." This, Dr. Watkins says, was, after the 
author's death, approved by Garrick, and shewn 
to Murphy, who, by their joint recommen- 
dation, prevailed on Dr. Johnson to read it. 
Without stopping to point out that a piece 
which had been approved by Garrick, stood in 
no need whatever of a last appeal to Dr. 
Johnson, whose authority, in mere theatrical 
matters, did not possess equal weight, it is a 
sufficient contradiction to this anecdote to ob- 
serve, that Mr. Sheridan was not on such terms 
either with Murphy (who was but slightly 
known to him), or with Johnson (with whom he 
was at variance), as to have confided to their 
perusal a manuscript play of his wife's after 
his return from France. I rather suspect that 
the reason this play never made its appearance, 
was that the author did not live to give the 
finishing touches to it ; and after her death 
Mr. Sheridan's grief was too deep and sin- 



302 MEMOIRS OF 

cere to allow him ever to attempt the painful 
task. 

The time approached which was to overcloud 
at once all his flattering prospects of domestic 
happiness. Shielded from the numerous vexa- 
tions that till now had attended him ; blest in be- 
holding his children thrive, his wife's health ap- 
parently improve, and in the uninterrupted exer- 
cise of his mental faculties, the heart of Mr. She- 
ridan (never insensible to religious impressions) 
overflowed in gratitude to his Creator ; and he 
expressed in a letter to a friend (in a very dif- 
ferent spirit from that which has been attributed 
to him), his conviction that " It is from reli- 
gion alone we can hope for contentment in this 
life, or happiness in a future one." How short 
was the period that intervened between his 
making this discovery, and his being called 
upon for the utmost exercise of religious resig- 
nation ! In the autumn of 1766 it became 
necessary, from the state of Mr. Sheridan's 
affairs, that he should make a visit to Ireland ; 
and it was arranged that Mrs. Sheridan should 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 303 

remain at Blois with the children, till he had ef- 
fected some more desirable arrangement. Mrs. 
Sheridan felt the necessity of this separation, 
and acquiesced in it with apparent cheerfulness. 
She laid down a plan for the employment of 
her time during her husband's absence; and, 
in the course of study on which she proposed 
to enter with her eldest daughter, promised 
herself the best compensation for his departure, 
whose cheering applause was wont to prompt 
and invigorate her more brilliant efforts. But 
all these appearances of satisfaction were fal- 
lacious. Till now, except in cases of necessity, 
and for short intervals, Mrs. Sheridan had been, 
in every vicissitude, the constant companion of 
her husband ; and it is not to be doubted, but 
that the prospect of a long separation from 
him, and of being obliged to remain with her 
children in a foreign land, the language of 
which she but imperfectly understood, and in 
which she possessed but few intimate friends, 
preyed upon her mind, and occasioned a conflict 
between her inclinations and a sense of what 



304 MEMOIRS OF 

was right ; that, in the end, proved fatal to her 
health. 

Mrs. Sheridan possessed a very mild temper, 
but at the same time extremely strong feelings ; 
and while the one prevented her giving utterance 
to complaint, the other tended to add keenness 
to every silently endured sorrow. 

A few days before Mr. Sheridan's intended 
departure, Mrs. Sheridan was seized with a 
fainting fit ; and the debility continuing, it be- 
came necessary for her to be conveyed to her 
bed. She had been subject all her life to such 
seizures, but the unusual duration of this one, 
added to other alarming symptoms, rendered it 
necessary to call in a physician. The physician 
pronounced the attack to be of the nature of low 
fever, but saw no immediate danger. Still the 
solicitude of Mr. Sheridan induced him to give 
up all thoughts of his journey ; and the rapidly 
increasing indisposition of his wife soon absorbed 
all other considerations, in the most agonizing 
apprehensions for her safety. From that time 
her strength rapidly and daily declined, but the 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 305 

powers of her mind were in no way diminished 
or impaired. 

Next to the awful preparation for death, 
which her virtues must have prevented her from 
dreading, however her earthly attachments 
might have made her wish to avert it, the mind 
of Mrs. Sheridan chiefly turned upon that object, 
which, whether in health or in sickness, had 
ever been with her the first consideration : and 
she gave in her conduct a striking proof of the 
affection which had been the ruling principle 
of her life. Fearful that in this time of unavoid- 
able confusion, her husband's comfort might 
be neglected, she never omitted, during the 
course of this, her last illness, (which was pro- 
tracted, in all, to about a fortnight,) to issue 
daily, from her sick bed, the necessary domestic 
orders; evincing the same anxiety to procure 
the articles which he particularly liked, and in 
every point great or small to study his welfare 
and comfort, which had made her, in her days 
of health, as valuable as a directress of his 

x 



306 



MEMOIRS OF 



household, as she was charming in the light of 
a friend and companion. 

The remembrance of such endearing atten- 
tions, as forming the suitable termination of a 
life of undeviating duty and affection, must 
have greatly increased the bitterness of that 
inevitable separation which was now so very 
near at hand. Until the day before her decease, 
Mrs. Sheridan retained her senses ; but when it 
was evident no hope remained, her children 
were taken by their sympathising friends, the 
Montignys, from the house. 

As the owner of the house which she occu- 
pied was a Roman Catholic, she thought it her 
duty, at the height of Mrs. Sheridan's danger, 
to inform the Cure, who, being a weak and 
bigotted man, would have disturbed the last 
moments of the dying with the performance of 
the rites commanded by the Church of Rome. 
His intention, however, was prevented by the 
timely precautions of her ever kind and con- 
siderate friends. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 307 

The eldest Miss Sheridan (Alicia), though 
conveyed away from the house, had managed 
to steal back unperceived, under the influence 
of a feeling which irresistibly impelled her to 
take a last look at the scene that contained the 
object of her dearest affections. In the bed- 
chamber of her dying mother, a singular spec- 
tacle awaited her. Colonel Montigny had taken 
his station in the room, to prevent the last 
moments of the departing spirit from being 
disturbed by the injudicious and unauthorized 
intrusion of a Priest of a different religion, since 
it was not possible to procure the consolations 
of one of the Protestant faith. Mrs. Sheridan 
knew her daughter ; and looking affectionately 
towards her, articulated the words, " Ma chere 
Jille /" A remarkable circumstance, as she was 
not, when in health, in the habit of speaking 
the French language. 

Soon afterwards, she became speechless, but 
knew every one The day before her death 
she was suddenly deprived of her senses, but 



SOS MEMOIRS OF 

did not appear to suffer any pain. She expired* 
without a groan or struggle, and closed at the 
age of forty-two years a life, which, as it had 
been from the moment of her marriage, the 
brightest pattern of connubial affection, might 
be considered, in some degree, to have fallen 
at length a sacrifice to that prevailing principle. 
To her husband her loss was, to use his own 
eloquent expression, " The most fatal event 
that could befail him in this life ; what the 
world could not repair— a bosom friend— -ano- 
ther self." His children's loss he justly con- 
sidered as, if possible, a greater calamity. They 
were just entering upon that critical period of 
youth which most demands and requires a 
mother's care ; and no mother was ever more 
admirably calculated to watch over and direct 
the pursuits of a young and rising family. 

The symptoms of Mrs. Sheridan's malady, 
until within a day or two of her death, had 

* August 1766, not 1767, as erroneously stated in the 
" General Biographical Dictionary." 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 309 

been apparently so inadequate to produce a 
fatal termination, that her afflicted husband was 
induced to take the necessary steps to ascertain 
whether some latent derangement of the system 
had not accelerated her dissolution. The result 
of this enquiry was, that the whole art of medi- 
cine could not have prolonged her days ; as all 
the noble parts were attacked, and any one of 
four internal maladies must have proved mortal. 
From this conviction Mr. Sheridan seemed to 
derive a melancholy consolation. 

The same bigotry and prejudice that would 
(if not prevented) have disturbed the last 
moments of Mrs. Sheridan with the exhortations 
of a religion which she disclaimed, operated 
also against her remains, as a Protestant, being 
suffered to repose in a Roman Catholic burial- 
ground j and the affection of Mr. Sheridan gave 
him an invincible antipathy to consigning to 
the earth a person so dear to him, in the uncere- 
monious manner with which Protestants were 
interred. But here again he met with the sup- 
port of that friendliness which I have already 

x 3 



310 MEMOIRS OF 

had occasion to notice. Another military man, 
as zealous and as kind as Colonel Montigny, 
(Colonel de Maupas,) obtained permission from 
a French Protestant family of consequence in 
the neighbourhood, to have the remains of 
Mrs. Sheridan deposited in their own cemetery, 
about six or seven miles distant from Blois. 
The procession was at night, and by torch- light, 
to avoid any opposition on the part of the 
ignorant populace. It was escorted by a party 
of Colonel Maupas' dragoons, and attended by 
Mr. Sheridan and his son, Charles Francis ; 
who afterwards returned and remained at the 
house of the compassionate Colonel de Maupas, 
while Colonel Montigny's family took charge 
of his two daughters. 

The humanity and liberality of sentiment 
evinced by these two foreigners on this occa- 
sion, both military men, and one wearing the 
cross of the military order of St. Louis (there- 
fore Roman Catholics themselves), deserves a 
particular record ; and was only to be equalled 
by the kindness shown by every individual con- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 311 

nected with them, to Mrs. Sheridan's surviving 
family. 

Such were the marks of respect paid to Mrs. 
Sheridan's memory, in the land which, although 
a foreign one, had admired her talents, and had 
witnessed her virtues. She was now removed 
to that sphere where the incense of human 
applause could no longer gratify, where the 
cares of human life could no longer assail her. 
To that sphere, where alone those faculties 
which she had always devoted to the worthiest 
purposes, could attain their complete expansion, 
and those virtues which had proved the blessing 
of all connected with her, were at length to 
receive their full reward. 



x4 



312 MEMOIRS OF 



CHAPTER X. 

Addition to the Memoirs of Mrs. Frances Sheridan Re- 
marks upon a passage in Dr. Watkins. —Mr. Thomas Sheri- 
dan and Dr. Johnson. — The late Marquis Townshend. — 
Garrick. — Changes in the public taste. — Boswell. — Original 
Anecdote of Lord Auchinleck. — Original Anecdote of 
Boswell and His late Majesty George the Third, — The 
Man of Feeling. — Anecdote of Dr. Johnson. 

I have now (properly speaking) brought the 
" Memoirs of Mrs. Frances Sheridan " to a 
close ; but in looking over other publications, 
particularly the " Memoirs of the public and 
private Life of the Right Honourable R. B. 
Sheridan," in order to avoid useless repetitions, 
I have observed so many circumstances relative 
both to Mr. Thomas Sheridan and his son 
Richard Brinsley, stated in a manner different 
from what his family know to be the true one, 
that this work might have justly been deemed 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 313 

incomplete without the correction of such mis- 
statements. 

A biographer, however honest his intentions, 
must fall into numerous errors, who has not had 
the advantage of communication with the sur- 
viving relatives of those whose lives he under- 
takes to write, and who can alone furnish him 
with the means of distinguishing truth from 
falsehood. Every fact that I am preparing to 
give, is either from the statement of Mrs. H. 
Lefanu, the only survivor of Mr. T. Sheridan's 
once numerous family, sister of R. B. Sheridan, 
and who was an eye and ear witness of the 
circumstances, or derived from documents of 
the most undoubted authenticity ; and which 
will leave not a suspicion upon the correctness 
of the anecdotes related. 

It has been remarked by Dr. Johnson, that 
" Many things which are false are transmitted 
from book to book, and gain credit in the 
world." In this maxim I think I can perceive the 
cause of the following mistatement that occurs 
in Dr. Watkins's Memoirs of R. B. Sheridan, 



814 MEMOIRS OF 

pages 144 and 145. The elder Mr. Sheridan is 
there accused, when disappointed in his plan of 
interesting the government for the scheme of 
national education, of being " weak enough to 
exercise his pen and his tongue in abusing the 
depravity of the people, and the corruption of 
the state. He did not even spare the throne 
to which he was so much indebted ; and when 
the dispute with America began to wear a 
serious aspect, he threatened to carry the bless- 
ing of his intellectual refinement across the 
Atlantic for the illumination of that country." 

Now this accusation, coupled as it is with the 
then peculiar circumstances of the times, and 
Mr. Thomas Sheridan's peculiar obligations to 
government, carries with it a very serious 
aspect indeed, and such a one as every honest 
mind must be anxious to repel, for the sake of 
a relation whose memory is dear to them. 
Such conduct would exhibit an instance of 
complicated baseness and ingratitude, which 
would entitle Mr. Sheridan to forfeit the cha- 
racter he never compromised in a single instance 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 315 

of his life, that of a man of honour > it is 
necessary, therefore, to sift it to the bottom; 
and upon such investigation the foundation of 
the story is to be found in the following passage 
of BoswelPs Johnson, given in the dramatic 
form of dialogue, in which that author de- 
lighted. 

" Upon being told that old Mr. Sheridan in- 
dignant at the neglect of his oratorical plans 
had threatened to go to America. 

" Johnson. I hope he will go to America. 

" Boswell. The Americans don't want oratory. 

"Johnson. But we can want Sheridan." 
The attentive reader will observe, that the 
biographer of Richard Brinsley Sheridan has 
in his statement implicitly copied the word 
" threatened" from BoswelPs Johnson. 

Boswell was desirous of preserving this 
trifling play upon the word want, as signifying 
either to desire, or to do without ; and to ac- 
complish that purpose, he did not hesitate to 
give stability and currency to a false report, 
injurious alike to the moral character and good 



316 MEMOIRS OF 

sense of the elder Mr. Sheridan : but how 
little he is deserving of credit, when treating 
of any individual except his "illustrious friend," 
has by this time been sufficiently ascertained. 
The fact is, Mr. Sheridan's merit was well 
known and considered in America.* A plan 
embracing such extensive and important in- 
terests as his, was remarkably calculated to 
attract the attention of a country of freedom, 
full of minds distinguished by energy and the 
spirit of enquiry. Ardent in the cause of edu- 
cation to the last, Mr. Sheridan, a very few years 
before his death, had planned a series of works 
on the English language, on a regularly pro- 
gressive scale ; to begin with the simplest 
elements of English until brought up to his 
Dictionary, which he considered only as the 
finishing part of a much more extensive plan. 
Ill health and various disappointments prevented 

* That country to which may be applied the bard's 
beautiful apostrophe : 

" The nations have fallen, and thou still art young; 
Thy sun is but rising, when others are set." 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 317 

the complete execution of this idea; but some 
of the elementary parts of the work were printed 
off, and the well-known Granville Sharpe, who 
was his friend, had engaged to distribute several 
thousand copies in America ; but this proof 
of a popularity which it is the aim of every 
author to attain, ought not to be wrested into 
a conclusion inimical to the character of Mr. 
Sheridan. 

However disappointed Mr. Sheridan might 
be in the hopes held out to him respecting his 
plan of education, he was incapable of act- 
ing or speaking in the manner attributed to 
him in the "Memoirs of the Right Honourable 
Richard Brinsley Sheridan." His late Majesty 
was never mentioned by him but in terms of 
gratitude and respect. His pen never was 
applied to the purpose of abuse. It is true 
that he occasionally wrote on the subject, he 
had so much at heart, British education, in 
some of the public papers. As the transcriber 
of almost all he wrote of that kind, Mrs. H. 



318 



MEMOIRS OF 



Lefanu is authorized to speak on the subject 
with certainty. As to a menace of going to 
America, nothing can be more absurd than the 
assertion. Mr. Sheridan sometimes said that 
were he many years younger he should like 
to visit that country. 

In the following page (146), the same ac- 
cusation is repeated with a slight variation of 
the words. 

" The same year and the next (1770), he 
(Mr. Sheridan) performed several times at that 
house (Footers Theatre), on a sharing concern, 
as he afterwards did one season at Covent 
Garden, on similar terms ; but the imprudence 
of his conduct in vilifying the very source from 
"which he drew his principal support gave so much 
offence, that the London theatres were shut 
against him by command" 

The theatres were not shut against Mr. Sheri- 
dan by command ; Government had nothing to 
do with the business. Drury Lane was shut 
against him, because, although Mr. Garrick 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 319 

offered him the highest terms as an articled 
actor, he never would consent to the only kind 
of engagement Mr. Sheridan would make — that 
of performing upon shares. 

The rest of the paragraph is unfortunately 
not more correct. 

" On this he travelled as a lecturer, and 
visited Dublin, where he received a flattering 
mark of distinction in having for his pupils the 
Hon. George Grenville and his brother, who 
were sent over accompanied by their tutor, the 
late Dr. William Cleaver, Bishop of St. Asaph, 
to study elocution under Mr. Sheridan. " 

As our aim is truth, and not to represent 
Mr. Thomas Sheridan as either more or less 
favoured for his merit than he really was, we 
feel it our duty to disavow this mark of dis- 
tinction ascribed to him, as readily as we should 
repel any false statement to his disadvantage. 
It is not fact that the late Marquis of Buck- 
ingham and Mr. T. Grenville were sent to Ire- 
land to be placed under his care. It was 
during Mr. Sheridan's residence at Bath that 



320 MEMOIRS OF 

the late Marquis of Buckingham came with his 
tutor Dr. Cleaver from Oxford, and was for 
some time his pupil. 

The following year he came again for the 
same purpose, and was then accompanied by 
his brother Mr. T. Grenville, who visited Bath 
merely for amusement. Mr. T. Grenville was 
never Mr. Sheridan's pupil. At the close of 
the summer, both gentlemen, with Dr. Clea- 
ver, went to Ireland on a tour of pleasure. It 
happened that Mr. Sheridan and his family 
went at the same time ; and this, it is probable, 
gave rise to the false report of their being 
sent to Ireland purposely to receive instructions 
from him. 

With respect to the remainder of the asser- 
tion in page 146, Mr. Sheridan never travelled 
as a lecturer. We shall examine the propriety 
of this expression more at large in another 
place. 

The next paragraph I think it necessary to 
notice is this — 

" Soon after the grant of a pension to She- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 321 

ridan, Johnson made use of some strong ex- 
pressions on the occasion, reflecting alike on 
the minister and the object of his favour, which 
the latter neyer forgave ; yet, by a very strange 
inconsistency, he affected to take credit to him- 
self for being the instrument of procuring a 
similar grant to the Doctor. In this, however, 
his vanity assumed what is too improbable to be 
believed : for his influence was never of that 
magnitude to give him a privilege of recom- 
mending men of talents to court favour." — 
Memoirs of the Right Hon. Richard Brinsley 
Sheridan, p. 152. 

Now "improbable" as this appears to the 
Biographer, the fact is certainly true. Mr. 
Sheridan did not pretend to the power of re- 
commending persons immediately to court fa- 
vour, but he was the first who mentioned the 
distress and merit of Dr. Johnson to Mr. Wed- 
derburne, afterwards Lord Loughborough, who 
mentioned it to Lord Bute, by whose influence 
a pension was conferred on Johnson of three 
hundred pounds a year. Had the Biographer 



32£ MEMOIRS OF 

consulted Boswell's Johnson with equal dili- 
gence on this, as on other occasions, he would 
have found this statement confirmed in the fol- 
lowing words. 

" When I spoke to Lord Loughborough, 
wishing to know if he recollected the prime 
mover in the business, he said, " all his friends 
assisted ;" and when I told him that Mr. Sheri- 
dan strenuously asserted his claim to it, his 
Lordship said, " Sheridan rang the bell." 

"It is but justice to add," continues Boswell, 
" Mr. Sheridan told me, that when he communi- 
cated to Dr. Johnson that a pension was to be 
granted him, he replied in a fervour of grati- 
tude, 'The English language does not afford 
me terms adequate to my feelings on this oc- 
casion : I must have recourse to the French ; 
I am penetre with His Majesty's goodness.' 
When I repeated this to Dr. Johnson he did not 
contradict it." 

Earlier in the same work, we have Boswell's 
assurance that "the great fame of his Dictionary 
had not set Johnson above the necessity of 



MRS, FRANCES SHERIDAN. 323 

making provision for the day that was passing 
over him." 

" No royal or noble patron extended a mu- 
nificent hand, to give independence to the man 
who had conferred stability on the language of 
his country." 

What no royal or noble patron thought it 
worth his while to do, Mr. Sheridan laboured to 
the utmost of his little power to cause to be 
effected. 

When his acquaintance with Johnson began, 
Johnson's health and means of living were both 
still precarious. The labour of the Dictionary 
had considerably increased the weakness of one 
of his eyes, and he was often assailed with dis- 
mal forebodings respecting the loss of the other. 
Under these circumstances, Mr. Sheridan did 
what few men in any station have been found 
capable of doing. Possessing the ear of a 
friend of the ministers, instead of representing 
his own unprovided situation (it was at this 
time that, after the destruction of his theatre, 
he was labouring in London to support a wife 

y2 



3S4 M EMOIRS OF 

and young family by his honourable exertions), 
he mentioned the case of a man whose neces- 
sities were, in his opinion, greater than his own, 
and had the satisfaction of being the joyful 
bearer of the tidings of royal munificence to the 
distressed object of it. 

Such noble conduct was not suffered to go un- 
rewarded ; and a few months afterwards a pen- 
sion, hut of biferior value, was conferred by the 
same royal hand upon Mr. Sheridan. 

What was Johnson's first emotion upon hear- 
ing that the man who had pointed out and re- 
commended his merit, was also distinguished by 
a mark of royal favour — an exclamation the 
most injurious that was perhaps ever dictated 
by the spirit of malignity and pride ; one that 
makes us sigh over the weakness of human 
nature when we find that even a mind such as 
Johnson's could fall so low — 

" What, have they given him a pension ? then 
it is time for me to give up mine !"•*. 

* It was not thus that Mr. Sheridan's merit was rated by 
others. When, after the death of his lamented wife, Mr. 

Sheridan 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 3°25 

Those who affirm that Mr. Sheridan, on its 
being repeated to him ought to have overlooked 
this insult, because Johnson, aftera pause, added, 

Sheridan went to Ireland in the autumn of 1766, His Excel- 
lency the Marquis of Townshend, then Lord Lieutenant, was 
pleased to send for him expressly, and to ask why he did not 
see him oftener at the castle. Mr. Sheridan replied, he 
would have gone oftener had he supposed his paying his 
duty there would be acceptable. His Excellency resumed, 
"Mr. Sheridan, since 1754 we are your debtors; nothing has 
been done for you in Ireland, where you risked and suffered 
so much." The Marquis then offered Mr. Sheridan commis- 
sions in the army for both his sons, which he, haying other 
views for them, respectfully declined. He, however, put 
Mr. Sheridan's two daughters upon the Concordatem, a pro- 
vision sufficient to defray the expences of their education 
while they enjoyed it, which was not above four years ; it 
being then unfortunately lost for want of renewing the cus- 
tomary application. After these steps, the Viceroy turned 
to Lady Townshend who was present, saying, " I put Mr. 
Sheridan's interests into your hands; if in the hurry of 
business I should forget him, be it your province to remind 
me of them." It was in London that Mr. Sheridan learned 
the afflicting news of the death of the first excellent Lady 
Townshend, and judged, too justly, that his hopes of advan- 
tage in that quarter were over. 

y3 



326 MEMOIRS OF 

" However, I am glad that Mr. Sheridan has 
a pension, for he is a very good man," must 
have very little knowledge of human nature, or 
make very little allowance for the finest feelings 
connected with it. Johnson's first exclamation 
was the spontaneous burst of his real sentiments ; 
and as such must be ever considered as most of- 
fensive to a man who was a fellow-labourer in 
the cause of elegant literature with himself. 

" Injuries," says Junius, "may be atoned for 
and forgiven, but insults admit of no compen- 
sation ; they degrade the mind in its own es- 
teem, and force it to recover its level by 
revenge." 

And what was the extent of Mr. Sheridan's 
revenge on this occasion ? simply avoiding any 
further opportunities for a repetition of such 
offensive conduct, by shunning the society of 
a man who was capable of treating him so un- 
worthily. In a life of Cook, published a few 
years ago, it is very properly observed : 

" The late Mr. Thomas Sheridan's declining 
any correspondence with Johnson, after the 



MRS. FRANCIS SHERIDAN. 32? 

impudent and illiberal expression respecting his 
pension, shewed a just, proper, and manly re- 
sentment." 

Yet this purely negative conduct is what is 
stigmatized by the biographer of R. B. Sheri- 
dan as "haughty demeanour and uncivil be- 
haviour," and more pointedly condemned in the 
following paragraph. 

" Dr. Johnson made frequent overtures for 
a renewal of that intimacy which had formerly 
subsisted between him and Sheridan, but they 
were most ungraciously repelled : and, one day 
when the Doctor was engaged to dine with Mr, 
Dilly the bookseller, Sheridan who was also in- 
vited, left the house immediately upon hearing 
into whose company he was about to be 
ushered." 

In answer to this I am happy to be able to 
produce a case in point from Davies's Life of 
Garrick, in which Garrick's conduct was ex- 
actly similar, and no one ever attempted to cast 
a shadow of blame on him in consequence, 
y 4 



328 MEMOIRS OF 

Mr. James Ralph, the political writer, had a 
most unfortunate mania for the drama, and was 
continually teasing Garrick to give him en- 
couragement to write for the stage ; this, Gar- 
rick, having already experienced his incapacity, 
would not do ; but having a real friendship for 
the irascible author, he prevailed upon the 
minister, Mr. Pelham, to settle a pension upon 
him of two hundred pounds per annum. Such 
conduct, it should be supposed, ought to have 
insured Ralph's eternal gratitude ; but the effect 
was so much the contrary, that in a subsequent 
publication, entitled the " Case of Authors by 
Profession," he attacked his benefactor with 
the most illiberal abuse, sparing neither his 
moral nor dramatic character. The only reason 
for this, that could be surmised, was the Mana- 
ger's refusing some comedy or farce which Mr. 
Ralph was anxious should be represented. 
The consequence was what might naturally 
have been expected ; Mr. Garrick never spoke 
to him afterwards, and refused to be in any 



MRS. FRANCIS SHERIDAN. 329 

company where he might have the chance of 
meeting him. Being invited to dinner by 
Lord Camden, he accepted the invitation with 
pleasure, but when he was told that Mr. Ralph 
was to be one of the guests, Mr. Garrick beg- 
ged to be excused, for he declared he would not 
sit in company with the most ungrateful man in 
the kingdom.* 

* Perhaps the title and matter of Ralph's " Case of Au- 
thors by Profession," suggested those of the modern pub- 
lications, " Calamities of Authors," and essays on " The 
Literary Character." 

It is amusing to observe the mutations of fashion — Mr. 
Ralph did bring one comedy upon the stage of Drury Lane, 
entitled The Astrologer; and though it was assisted by 
Garrick's friendly efforts, it met with a total failure. Upon 
which Davies makes the following observations, which were, 
no doubt, thought at the time very pertinent. 

" The acting of Albumazar, the original from whence his 
beloved Astrologer was taken, gave him uneasiness which 
nothing could remove but the ill success of that play. In- 
deed, we may venture to presage that such will be the fate 
of these old dramatic pieces, all of which hear such marks of 
ancient and forgotten manners and customs, that they cannot, 
without being entirely refitted, please the present generation. 

" I would 



330 MEMOIRS OF 

To Mr. Boswell himself, Mr. Sheridan had 
ever been a constant, hospitable, and steady 
friend. On occasion of a misunderstanding be- 
tween that gentleman and his father, Lord 
Auchinleck, which threatened a total breach 
between them, Mr. Sheridan had the pleasure of 
acting as mediator, and effecting a perfect re- 
conciliation. Mr. Boswell has acknowledged 
his friend's kindness in many parts of his great 

" I would be understood always to except the works of 

Shakespeare, which being founded on that nature which will 

be eternally the same, and not dependant upon variable 

fashion and local custo?n, must please as long as our language 

shall last." 

Since Tom Davies wrote this criticism, a Genius has arisen, 
and effected a total revolution in public taste. A modern 
dramatic piece, entitled The Astrologer, has been received 
with applause. The historical romance has been revived, 
adorned with livelier and more unfading colours, and cul- 
tivated with distinguished success; and we stand a fair 
chance of being initiated in a most agreeable and entertain- 
ing way,— in the many disused "customs," "ancient and for- 
gotten manners," and " local superstitions of our ancestors." 
Such total changes in opinion, render books written some 
time ago the more amusing to an observing mind. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 331 

work; but, in others, his constant desire to 
elevate the character of Johnson above that of 
all his contemporaries, has betrayed him into 
very invidious and unfair attacks upon Mr. 
Sheridan's character.* 

James Boswell was a most entertaining Biogra- 
pher, (he has not formed a school) but in his pri- 
vate conduct he was often deficient in tact, or 
was possessed of a surprising degree of " modest 
assurance ;" an observation which the following 
anecdote, communicated from unexceptionable 
authority, will amply justify. 

* It appears that James Boswell could never create in his 
father and wife an equal relish with his own for Dr. Johnson's 
society. 

Expressing himself to his father in enthusiastic admiration 
of that great man, he exclaimed, " Oh, Sir ! he is in himself a 
constellation of talents P " A Constellation !" repeated the 
honest old lord ; " Then by my saul, mon, he maun be the 
Great Bear !" 

" I have seen," said the provoked but much enduring 
Margaret Boswell, " many a bear led by a man ; but you, 
James, are the first man I ever knew that suffered himself to 
be led by a bear." 



332 MEMOIRS OF 

When Boswell was about to publish his " Tour 
to the Hebrides," having a communication of a 
political nature to make previous to its seeing 
the light, he adopted the unceremonious method 
of calling upon the highest personage in the 
kingdom for the above mentioned purpose. The 
illustrious personage sent him word he should 
see him at the levee. Accordingly, Boswell 
dressed and took his station in the circle. When 
it came to his turn to be spoken to, he announced 
to His Majesty the work he intended to publish, 
and said his motive in doing so was in order to 
know in what manner he was to name a person 
he should have occasion to mention in the course 
of his narrative. 

That to call him the Pretender was what he 
could not think of doing, as it was against his 
principles ; that to name him the Chevalier St. 
George was awkward, it being a title that did 
not in reality belong to him ; in this dilemma he 
wished to have His Majesty's commands upon 
the subject. " Nay," said the King, " call him 
what you please." " I may say then," resumed 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 333 

the author, " that I have your Majesty's sanc- 
tion for styling him ' The unfortunate grandson 
of James the Second.' " — The King made no re- 
ply to the disrespectful and indiscreet pertinacity 
of Bos well, but immediately passed on to the 
next person in the circle. 

In general, Boswell certainly deserves as little 
as any writer the imputation of " marring a curi- 
ous tale in telling it ;" yet in one truly " curi- 
ous" anecdote that he has related, he has, either 
through ignorance or inattention, omitted a ma- 
terial circumstance that greatly enhanced its in- 
terest. It relates to the dispute concerning the 
real author of " The Man of Feeling." Boswell 
tells us, — " Some years ago a little novel entitled 
* The Man of Feeling,' (what a manner of de- 
scribing that original and beautiful work !) was 
assumed by Mr. Eccles, a young clergyman, who 
was afterwards drowned near Bath. He had 
been at pains to transcribe the whole book, with 
blottings, interlineations and corrections, that 
it might be shewn to several people as an 
original. 



334 MEMOIRS OF 

" It was in truth trie production of Mr. Henry 
Mackenzie, an attorney, in the Exchequer, at 
Edinburgh, who is the author of several other 
ingenious pieces ; but the belief with regard to 
Mr. Ecdes became so general that it was thought 
necessary for Messrs. Strahan and Cadell to 
publish an advertisement in the newspapers, 
contradicting the report, and mentioning that 
they purchased the copyright of Mr. Macken- 
zie." — BoswelPs Johnson, vol. i. pp. 343, 344. 
Edit, of 1811. 

Here is, indeed, a strange instance of literary 
forgery, and misdirected literary ambition. The 
anecdote is true as far as it goes, but Boswell 
omitted to mention a striking circumstance 
attending the death of the unfortunate Mr. 
Eccles. He was drowned in the Avon, in 
consequence of an attempt to save the life of a 
child who had fallen into that river. His perish- 
ing thus, a victim to an act of humanity, con- 
firmed to his memory at Bath, until his literary 
fraud was detected, the name which he had 
obtained during his lifetime, in consequence of 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 835 

the work falsely attributed to him — that of 
" The Man of Feeling/' 

Another story, which Boswell, I think, has 
spoiled, relates to the death of Dr. Johnson. 
The words attributed to the doctor were (cor- 
rectly) as follow. 

The day before Johnson died, a friend of his 
sent a man to assist the person who was already 
in attendance in sitting up with him. The next 
day this friend called, and said he hoped that the 
person he sent had been vigilant and active in 
the discharge of his duty. Johnson, with a 
wonderful gleam of his wonted forcible manner, 
replied, — " Why, Sir, the fellow had the vigi- 
lance of a dormouse ; and the activity of a 
turnspit, the first time he is put into the wheel !" 

Any reader who will take the trouble of con- 
sulting the last pages of Boswell, will find that 
he has unaccountably suffered the spirit of this 
anecdote to evaporate. 



336 M EMOIRS OF 



CHAPTER XL 

General Paoli. — Paoli and Napoleon Buonaparte. — Misre- 
presentation respecting the late Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan. 

— Louisa Bellenden Kerr Mr. Sheridan and Rasselas. — 

Domestic life of the elder Mr. Sheridan. — Mr. Sheridan's 
theatrical respectability. — The Kildare Street club. — Ma- 
nager Heaphy. — Anecdote of a beautiful young Actress — 
Contradiction of a saying imputed to the elder Mr. She- 
ridan. — Mrs. Vesey's conversaziones. — Original anecdote of 
Dr. Johnson. — Tributes to the merit of the elder Mr. 
Sheridan. — His hopes nearly being realized in Ireland.— 
Disappointment. — Decease. —Refutation of the statement 
in the Memoirs of R. B. Sheridan, respecting the funeral 
of Mr. Sheridan.— Mrs. Siddons. 

On Mr. Sheridan's return from France, 
and settling in London, he took a house in 
Frith-street, Soho, where he lived in habits of 
intimacy with Topham Beauclerc, Wedder- 
burne, Frazer, Boswell, the celebrated Foote, 
and others distinguished in the memoirs of those 
times for merit, literature, or extraordinary 
powers of entertaining. 

In the year 1769, Mrs. H. Lefanu, then a 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 337 

child, remembers a thin eager-looking young 
man, in black, who talked a great deal about 
General Paoli. Mr. Sheridan said to him, in 
his good-humoured way, " I suppose you are 
in mourning for Corsica ?" to which he answered 
in the affirmative. This was James Boswell. 

After Corsica had been overpowered by the 
monarchy of France, the distinguished General 
Paoli, no longer at the head of his brave coun- 
trymen, had with difficulty escaped from his 
native land, and sought an asylum in England. 
Here he was welcomed by Boswell, who, in 
1765, had received great civilities from him at 
his palace in Corte. Boswell was now endea- 
vouring to repay these civilities by dancing 
attendance upon the veteran hero of war, as he 
had previously done upon the hero of literature. 
Indeed, James Boswell seems to have had a great 
deal of the lion-dealer in his disposition. He 
introduced the General to whatever was remark- 
able in the way of talent and literature. On 
being presented to Mr. Sheridan, Paoli addressed 



3.^8 MEMOIRS OF 

to him this flattering observation : " Monsieur, 
on voit dans vos ecrits le veritable eleve de Swift" 
A discriminating compliment, which shewed not 
only that the illustrious foreigner had read and 
admired the works of Mr. Sheridan, but that 
he was sufficiently master of the English lan- 
guage (though he spoke it with difficulty,) to 
distinguish the different modes of composition 
and beauties of style. 

Being, as I have already represented, in the 
habit of entertaining the distinguished charac- 
ters of the age, Mr* Sheridan promised himself 
the gratification of giving a dinner to General 
Paoli. Boswell, delighted with shewing about 
another "illustrious friend," assured him the 
General was most desirous of cultivating his 
acquaintance, and would accept such a civility 
with pleasure ; but such was the universal de- 
sire to enjoy the company of this' genuine hero, 
that he found it necessary to decline particular 
invitations, lest in obliging some he should give 
offence to others ; so Mr. Sheridan missed the 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 339 

gratification of seeing the patriot at his hospitable 
board.* 

To return to the "Memoirs of the Right 
Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan." The follow- 
ing paragraph deserves particular notice* as 
being founded wholly upon misinformation. 

" Shortly after his (Richard Brinsley's) final 
removal from school, he went upon a visit to 
some friends at Bristol, where his narrow allow- 
ance impelled him to have recourse to invention 
for the supply of his necessities ; in consequence 
of which he departed from that city in silence, 
and with precipitancy." — Watldns^ vol. i. p. I67. 

From whatever source he derived this story 

* Before I dismiss the subject of General Paoli, I may be 
permitted to mention the anecdote, that, almost thirty years 
afterwards, at Bath, when the fame of his wonderful country- 
man, Buonaparte, Was the topic of discourse, Paoli observed 
to Miss Lee, author of " The Canterbury Tales," that he 
was godfather to IWd or three of the Buonaparte family ; 
but as none of them bore his name (Pascal), he was hot cer- 
tain whetheV Napoleon might be one of the number or not ; 
whether or not the defender of his country's liberties had to 
answer for the sins of the enemy of the liberties of mankind 

Z 2 



340 MEMOIRS OF 

of the excursion to Bristol, Dr. Watkins may 
rest assured it is a complete fabrication. On his 
leaving Harrow school, Richard Brinsley, with 
his brother, who was just returned from France, 
became an inmate of his father's house on the 
King's Road, Chelsea; from whence they re- 
moved in the winter to his house in London, 
where they resided nearly two years. During 
this time both the young men were regularly 
attended by Mr. Kerr, a gentleman who once 
practised as a physician, but who, upon being 
obliged by loss of health to quit his profession, 
supported himself by giving instructions in Latin 
and the mathematics.* Charles Sheridan, and 

* However unwilling unnecessarily to step forward, or to 
hurt the feelings of individuals labouring, perhaps, under 
unmerited distress, justice here obliges the author to notice 
a case that came to her knowledge through the Morning 
Chronicle of October the 17th, and afterwards, 1823, in 
which the sufferer threw upon the memory of the late Right 
Honourable Richard Brinsley Sheridan the most unmerited 
reproach. A number of readers must be aware that I 
allude to the letters of Louisa Bellenden Kerr. There, it is 

asserted 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 341 

his brother Richard Brinsley also, attended Mr. 
Angelo's fencing and riding school; while from 

asserted that Mr. Kerr (the father of the letter-writer, and 
the person mentioned in the text, "while rising to the 
height of eminence in his profession, had unfortunately 
contracted a most intimate friendship with the celebrated 
Brinsley Sheridan, and was fatally induced, by the fascina- 
tion of his eloquence and professions of friendship, to in- 
trust in his hands not only the Jar greater part of his property, 
but the only documents in existence of his birth and family 
claims ; both of which were, in consequence, irretrievably 
lost." The writer, who, in another place, styles herself " the 
only surviving descendant of the late Duke of Roxburgh's 
family, and of Hugh Bellenden Kerr," proceeds to state that 
her father's " insolvency and total ruin soon followed ;" and 
that, " after being long amused with flattering hopes and 
delusive promises, and finally denied all admittance to the 
faithless friend, for whose service he had sacrificed all his own 
and his family s hopes and prospects in life, his mind was over- 
powered by the acuteness of his feelings, and he sunk into 
a state of melancholy despondence, which totally incapaci- 
tated him from the duties of a profession that was become 
his only dependence." The " documents and family claims " 
are afterwards more precisely stated, in a letter intended for 
the eye of his Majesty, to be " a forfeited estate, now in 
the occupation of a distant branch of the family in Ireland, 

Z 3 and 



342 MEMOIRS OF 

their father they received daily instructions in 
the study of their own language. These details 

and a pension of one hundred and fifty pounds a year on the 
Irish establishment, for life." 

Although subsequent disclosures must have tended, I 
presume, considerably to shake the credit of the fair writer, 
yet, if one mind was influenced, if one additional calumny 
against Mr. Sheridan gained force by her assertions, it will 
not be unuseful to trace that calumny to its spring, and to 
shew how utterly destitute of a syllable of truth is the whole 
fabrication. Others maj think, and justly, that a dignified 
silence is the best reply to such ridiculous accusations ; bub 
in a work, in which the relations of the late unfortunate Mr. 
Kerr with the Sheridan family come naturally under review, 
such a silence on the author's part would be a cowardly 
desertion of the task she has imposed on herself; and she is 
happy to be able, from authority of the most unquestionable 
correctness, to give a positive and total contradiction to 
every part of the preceding assertions. 

When Mr. Kerr first became known to the elder Mr. 
Sheridan, which was previous to the year 1764, in which 
the family went to France, he practised as a physician ; but, 
an unfortunate illness having ended in total derangement of 
intellect, so as to require confinement, he was of course 
incapacitated from following his profession. 

Thus, the event which Miss Kerr laments, and attributes 

to 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 343 

it is necessary to enter into, on account of the 
erroneous inference the biographer has deduced 
from erroneous premises. 

to the eloquence and artifices of " the celebrated Brinsley 
Sheridan," as she is pleased to style him, it will be ob- 
served, took place when he was a boy, and innocent of any 
acquaintance with Mr. Kerr, who was his father % not his 
contemporary. During Mr. Kerr's afflicting misfortune, he 
incessantly raved of the elder Mr. Sheridan, who, some 
time after his return from France, in the year 1 770, found 
poor Mr. Kerr apparently reinstated in the possession of 
his senses, but in very distressed circumstances, in London. 
This was the period mentioned in the text, when, partly 
with a view to serve Mr. Kerr, and partly under the im- 
pression that his instructions might be of benefit to his sons, 
Mr. Sheridan engaged him to give them lessons in mathe- 
matics. Mr. Kerr also assisted Charles Francis, Mr. She- 
ridan's eldest son, who had not had the same advantages as 
his brother, of a learned education in the study of the 
Latin language. During two years, as abovementioned, this 
attendance was continued, and on the days of teaching, Mr. 
Kerr was always invited to dinner, and to pass the evening. 
About the same time Mr. Charles Francis Sheridan recom- 
mended him to Mr. Simon Ewart, a young gentleman he 
had known in France, and the son of a most respectable 
merchant in the City. Mr. Ewart became his pupil, and the 

Z 4 family 



344 MEMOIRS OF 

" Such acts of youthful indiscretion and levity 
are not here alluded to in a spirit of malignity, 

family treated him with the same hospitality he experienced 
at Mr. Sheridan's house; and they also procured him 
pupils. Charles Francis Sheridan and Simon Ewart having 
more occasion for his assistance than Richard Brinsley, they 
took more interest in him, and often passed evenings with 
Mr. Kerr, to pursue their studies, paying the 'whole expense 
of these little parties, in which his other pupil never joined. 
This little meeting used to be called, jocosely, the Club ; and 
by this it plainly appears that Richard Brinsley Sheridan was 
the least intimate with Mr. Kerr of any of his pupils. The 
removal of Mr. Sheridan and his family to Bath, occasioned 
a cessation of intercourse ; but, in 1775, they were again in 
London; and Mr. Charles Francis Sheridan one day in- 
formed his father that he had been called upon by his old 
master, Mr. Kerr, to be present at his marriage, either as a 
witness or to give away the bride — the author of this com- 
munication does not exactly recollect which. The circum- 
stance at the time excited some pleasantry, as the bride 
(though designated by Miss Kerr as " in the bloom of life ") 
was, in reality, far from young ; and the bridegroom was 
contemporary with Mr. C. F. Sheridan's father. Mr. C. F. 
Sheridan also learned that Mr. Kerr had obtained a situa- 
tion in the College of Physicians, which entitled him to 
lodging, coals, and a small salary. In 1783, when Mr. C. 

F. Sheridan 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 345 

but for the important purpose of elucidating 
character, and of shewing the baneful and ex- 

F. Sheridan held the situation of Secretary at War in 
Dublin, he was surprised by a visit from Mr. Kerr, who 
told him he came over to recover a large property to which 
he was heir, and produced papers, which Mr. C. F. Sheridan, 
who had been called to the bar, agreed to look over. Upon 
examination, Mr. C. F. Sheridan (whom Miss Kerr has 
mistaken throughout for his brother R. B. Sheridan) found 
that Mr. Kerr had no claim whatever to the property he 
mentioned, and advised his immediate return to England, at 
the same time giving him the means of doing what he pro- 
posed. Mr. Kerr, however, continued in Dublin, persecut- 
ing him with visits, and frequent demands on his purse, 
whence it is possible that he was sometimes " denied ad- 
mittance " (as stated by Miss Kerr) to Charles, not Richard 
Brinsley Sheridan, the latter having nothing whatever to do 
with the business. Mr. C. F. Sheridan considered Kerr's 
whole conduct as the result of a deranged mind, and ad- 
vised Mrs. Kerr, who either accompanied or followed him 
to Ireland, to get him away. Want of money was again 
pleaded as an excuse for delay : upon which Mr. Sheridan 
made another donation, but did not allow it to be given till 
they were actually on board ship. That subsequent to these 
events, and in this state of mental derangement, the un- 
happy man might have persecuted Richard Brinsley Sheri- 
dan 



3*6 MEMOIRS OF 

tensive effects of parental imprudence." — Vol. i. 
p. 167-8. 

This erroneous opinion of Mr. Sheridan is 
expressed more explicitly, p. 169. 

" Unfortunately, in his anxiety to perfect 
them in the graces of speech, he forgot the more 
substantial requisite of self-controul and a disci- 
plined mind, in the labour of patient investiga- 
tion, and the exercise of the duties which man 
owes to himself as well as to society. 

ff Mr. Sheridan was abundantly competent to 
the employment of delivering lectures on correct 
and elegant speaking ; but he was very ill 
adapted to train up young men as instructors 
in general knowledge." 

dan with solicitations is not unlikely ; but that he was ever 
his " friend," or could have deprived him of a fortune, which 
he never possessed, the above facts sufficiently prove. The 
sister of Mr. Sheridan, who makes this statement, resided 
with her brother, at the Castle of Dublin, at the time of 
Mr. Kerr's visits. She saw him in the year 1785, at her 
father's house, restored to his former calm state of mind, 
and living in the same humble and laborious situation as 
when she had first known him. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 347 

This passage, it must be confessed, does not 
show much "general knowledge' ' of the cha- 
racter of the elder Mr. Sheridan, who was dis- 
tinguished for the extent of his information on 
a variety of subjects, and for a taste and a 
capacity to enjoy the varied treasures of the 
natural and intellectual world. The following 
passage is, if possible, still more unfounded. 

" Like the moralist in Rasselas, who could 
prelect with the most convincing force upon 
the necessity and advantage of governing the 
passions, his private deportment would have re- 
futed his principles, or shewn the inefficacy of 
his rules"— Vol. i. p. 169. 

Now, if it is inferred that Dr. Johnson 
meant his friend Mr Sheridan, by the moralist 
in Rasselas, that is an error; for their ac- 
quaintance did not commence till after Rasselas 
was written.* If the Biographer merely would 

* Though Dr. Johnson could not possibly have had his 
friend in view in the Philosopher of Cairo, the description 
of his elocution is not unlike that which time has left us of 
the elder Mr. Sheridan's. 

"As 



348 MEMOIRS OF 

insinuate that Mr. Sheridan's private conduct 
contradicted the principles he was desirous of 
instilling into his children, it is an assertion 
equally unfounded, as he ever preserved the 
character of a man of the most unsullied morals, 
in a profession the most peculiarly exposed to 
temptation. 

Besides those studies and employments to 
which Mr. Sheridan devoted his sons, during 
the two years that elapsed between Richard 
Brinsley's removal from Harrow, and residing 
at Bath (two years, which the biographer has, 
I know not why, chosen to slide into one), it 
was his custom every day to assemble his little 
family to morning prayers, and on Sunday 

" As he was one day walking in the street, he saw a spa- 
cious building, which all were, by the open doors, invited to 
enter. He followed the stream of people, and found it a 
hall or school of declamation, in which professors read lec- 
tures to their auditory. He fixed his eye upon a sage, 
raised above the rest, who discoursed with great energy on 
the government of the passions. His look was venerable, 
his action graceful, his 'pronunciation clear, and his diction 
elegant" — Rasselas, chap. 18. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 349 

evenings he either explained to them the sub- 
ject of the morning's sermon, or selected for 
elucidation some portion of scripture calculated 
to enforce " the duties which man owes to him- 
self as well as to society." 

After this, a selection from the works of some 
religious or moral author was read aloud. Some- 
times it was the Ramblers of Dr. Johnson ; a 
choice which reflects equal honour on Mr. She- 
ridan's candour and his taste. When, as was 
his custom on these occasions, Mr. Sheridan 
himself took the book in turn to read, his 
daughters, though sometimes anxious and fa- 
tigued before, owing to the extreme difficulty 
of completely satisfying an ear so exquisitely 
correct as their father's, felt instant renovation 
of spirits and attention ; so gratifying to the 
ear and the mind was his animated and per- 
spicuous manner of delivery. 

A better picture cannot be imagined of the 
sacrifice of private resentment to feelings of 
morality and principle, than that of Sheridan, 
bestowing the aid of his elegant and forcible 



350 MEMOIRS OF 

delivery to set off the pure morality that flowed 
from the harmonious periods of Johnson ! — It 
surely ought to exonerate him from Dr, Wat- 
kins's repeated charges of "spleen," of bearing 
" a grudge," &c. &c. " to his ancient friend." 

Long after his initiation into the gay and busy 
world, Richard Brinsley Sheridan retained in his 
vivid imagination a lively recollection of those 
calm and virtuous hours spent under his father's 
roof. Once after his marriage, upon occasion of 
his calling on the elder Mr. Sheridan, on busi- 
ness, his father happened to be absent, but his 
•sister received him in the dining-room where 
the cloth was laid. " Ah !" said he, " I could 
fancy myself back among old times* seated with 
Charles and my sisters at this table, and my 
father looking round upon us, and giving his 
favorite toast—" Healths* hearts and homes !" 

On the subject of Mr. Sheridan's two sons 
(pages 170 and 171), it is asserted by Dr. 
Watkins, 

" The eldest son, who had long enjoyed the 
confidence of his father* and the benefit of his 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 351 

instructions, was much employed by him in 
public recitation " * * * 

"When the youngest was taken from Har- 
row, he also received lessons in elocution xvith 
the same view" 

This is a mis-statement ; Charles Francis She- 
ridan never recited in public but once, and that 
was when he was a boy. His father took him with 
him when he gave his first course of lectures in 
the city soon after his misfortunes in Ireland : 
Richard never was brought forward in that way, 

" Mr. Sheridan-," continues the biographer, 
"had a house in Bath, where he read lectures 
to subscribers, and gave private lessons on 
reading and declamation to a select number of 
pupils, in which he xms assisted chiefly by Charles* 
and occasionally by his other son." — Vol. i. p. 170. 

The foregoing part of this paragraph is cor- 
rect, but not so the latter. In 1771, Mr. She^- 
ridan removed with his family to Bath, where 
he gave a course of lectures, but he had no 
academy. The next circumstance to be noticed 
in the " Memoirs of R. B. Sheridan" is the ap- 



35% MEMOIRS OF 

plication to his father of the terms " an itinerant 
lecturer and actor," pages 193 and 194. 

Nothing can give a more unfounded idea of 
his character. It is strange to apply the dero- 
gatory term " itinerant" to the circumstance 
of Mr. Sheridan's delivering his lectures at the 
proper seats of learning — at Oxford, where his 
" Art of Reading" was much studied and 
esteemed, and where he was complimented 
with a degree ; at Cambridge, where he received 
the same honour ; and in Edinburgh, where, as 
has been already related, he was presented with 
the Freedom of the City. 

Considering Mr. Sheridan in the light of a 
theatrical performer, the term is equally inap- 
plicable. It has been, and still continues the 
custom, for the most distinguished dramatic 
performers to exhibit their talents in country 
towns : but Garrick never did so, neither did his 
not unworthy rival, Sheridan. London and 
Dublin were the only places that witnessed the 
performances of Mr. Sheridan. The sole ex- 
ceptions that occurred from this rule were such 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 353 

as not to militate in the smallest degree against 
the respectability of his character. 

The first was when he visited Cork, in 1773. 
At this time he was treated with the most dis- 
tinguished attention by the most leading persons 
in the county, who were his valued and inti- 
mate friends : the late St. John JefFeries, Esq., 
of Blarney Castle, and Governor of Cork, and 
Lord Mu skerry, who was High Sheriff of the 
county. A number of gentlemen of Cork, who 
had been educated at Trinity College, and had 
formed themselves into an association, to meet 
and dine once a week together, immediately 
upon learning that Mr. Sheridan (who was also 
of Trinity) was in the neighbourhood, requested 
him to become a member of their club. Those 
who reflect upon the little prejudices entertained 
by the aristocracy of the provinces far more 
than of the capital, against common theatrical 
performers, will at once perceive, by this dis- 
tinguished compliment, that Mr. Sheridan was 
held in quite a different light.* 

* The last time the elder Mr. Sheridan visited Ireland 
<2 A (1787) 



354 MEMOIRS OF 

In a delightful tour to the Lakes of Killarney, 
which Mr. Sheridan, from his high relish and 
taste for the beauties of natural scenery, en- 
joyed with peculiar satisfaction, he (with his two 
daughters) was received with every token of 
respect and attention, and with the same dis- 
tinguished kindness as at Cork ; a town, whose 
inhabitants are remarkable for urbanity to stran- 
gers, and for the intellectual cultivation they 
successfully mingle with the pursuits of business. 
Returning from his tour to Killarney, Mr. She- 
ridan was for some time the guest of the Rev. 

(1787), he was elected almost unanimously a member of the 
Kildare Street Club ; a society of the highest description in 
Dublin, of which his son Charles Francis Sheridan, then 
Secretary at War, was one of the earliest members. Mr. 
Sterling, a particular friend of old Mr. Sheridan's, announced 
to him, that he had been elected a member " without a single 
dissentient voice." Another person present happened un- 
luckily to observe, that there was one black bean. " Pooh !" 
resumed the worthy Sterling, " That slipped in by accident !" 
These two anecdotes will prove that Mr. Sheridan's pursuits 
never prevented him from being, what Dr. Johnson termed, 
(coining a word, as he had an undoubted right to do,) " a 
very clubable man." 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 355 

Dr. James Stopford and Dr. Joseph Stopford, 
of Charleville, both of the family of the Earl of 
Courtown; a family no less estimable for purity 
of conduct than for nobility of blood. From 
thence he proceeded to Mr. Munsel, of Tervoe ; 
and, during the course of this last visit, was 
occasionally the guest of Sir Harry Harstonge, 
the Dean of Limerick, and the principal gentry 
in the neighbourhood, 

His playing at Limerick at all, originated in 
an anecdote which, although it may excite a 
smile at Mr. Sheridan's easy good-nature, will 
find a ready apology in every mind that resem- 
bles his. When Heaphy, the manager of the 
Cork Theatre, who had also the direction of 
that at Limerick, first engaged Mr. Sheridan to 
play a certain number of nights at Cork, he 
made no mention of playing at Limerick ; well 
knowing that it was against Mr. Sheridan's 
general rule to perform in country theatres. 
When, however, they met at Cork, the country 
Manager, for the first time, expressed his expec- 

2 A 2 



3«56 MEMOIRS OF 

tation* that Mr. Sheridan would also perform 
during the assize week at Limerick. He pro- 
tested, with true Irish pathos, if it were known 
at Limerick that he had Sheridan at Cork, and 
not at their city, " he would be ruined and 
undone entirely; let alone having the house 
pulled about his ears :" and this Mr. Sheridan 
knew, from bitter experience, might be no idle 
flourish of rhetoric. He certainly might have 
refused Heaphy's additional demand, as there 
was some want of ingenuousness in the conduct 
of the Irish manager ; but his was not a mind 
to weigh so minutely the errors of a generally 
worthy man. He yielded to poor Heaphy's 
eloquence, and consented to perform a few 
nights also at Limerick, where his exertions 
were received with that enthusiasm by which, 
in his native country, they were always re- 
warded. 

Mr. Sheridan's second visit to Cork was in 

* For the full force of the comprehensive Irish — " I 
expect," see Miss Edgeworth's truly " Popular " Tales. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 357 

the summer of 1776. He left Dublin with his 
family, and travelled down to Cork in the com- 
pany of St. John Jefferies, Esq., whose guest he 
was, as were also his daughters ; and while at 
Blarney Castle, he was entertained in turn by 
other families of distinction. These two are 
the only times that Mr. Sheridan ever played in 
the country. He never performed any where 
as an articled actor: and when the candid 
reader recapitulates the circumstances here re- 
lated — when he considers the estimation in 
which Mr. Sheridan was held, and the circle in 
which he moved — a circle composed of the en- 
lightened, the reverend, and the honourable — 
of all that was distinguished for rank, or re- 
spectable in character— when he Compares this 
with the treatment of common country per- 
formers, lie will see whether Mr. Sheridan de- 
serves to be classed by Dr. Watkins with those, 
or to rank as a man of talents, and a gentleman. 
A curious instance of the value which was 
set upon Mr. Sheridan's instructions in theatrical 
2 A3 



358 MEMOIRS Of 

declamation, occurred the following winter, the 
last that he ever played in Ireland. 

A young and very lovely actress, whose 
beauty and virtue afterwards raised her to a 
high marriage, took it into her head to pass for 
a pupil of Mr. Sheridan's, without there being 
any grounds for such an assertion. She thought 
that it would benefit her in her theatrical cha- 
racter; and accordingly, when rehearsal was 
over, or when visitors were present, she used to 
take out her watch, gravely apologize for hur- 
rying away, but say, " This was the hour that 
she was to receive the instructions of Mr. Sheri- 
dan, and she would not on any account disap- 
point him." By this ingenious contrivance, 
she actually convinced several persons that she 
had the benefit of regular lessons from him in 
her art ; although there was no further founda- 
tion for the supposition, than that Mr. Sheridan 
had once, at rehearsal, suggested an alteration 
in her manner of repeating one or two speeches. 

The biographer of R. B. Sheridan seems, in 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 359 

several places, deeply impressed with the notion 
that Mr. Sheridan never consulted the inclina- 
tions or genius of his children ; but was desirous 
at all events, that they should devote themselves 
to public education. 

" He (Mr. Sheridan) has been heard fre- 
quently to say, * that he would rather see his 
two sons at the head of respectable academies, 
as a situation the most beneficial to mankind, 
than one of them Prime Minister of Britain, 
and the other at the head of affairs in Ireland.' " 
— Memoirs of the Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan, 
vol. i. p. 168. . 

Now the only authority for this saying of Mr. 
Sheridan's, is to be found in " Whyte's Miscel- 
lanies ;" where we have also seen it, and where 
in a note it is added — that it was "very re- 
markable" this declaration was made in the year 
1782, when Richard Brinsley Sheridan enjoyed 
the post of Under Secretary of State in England, 
and Charles, that of Secretary at War in the 
Castle of Dublin. 

Very remarkable would these additional circum- 
2 a 4 



360 M EM 01RS OF 

stances have rendered Mr. Sheridan's opinion, 
if it had been true that he had in reality thus 
expressed himself. But unfortunately there is 
not the slightest shadow of foundation for the 
story. 

In the year 1782, Mr. Sheridan was on no 
terms with the elder Mr. Whyte, who is men- 
tioned in the " Miscellanies " as the person to 
whom he made this observation \ so it is hardly 
to be supposed he would choose him as the 
confidante of his views and wishes with regard 
to his children. But the real fact is, that so 
far from feeling the stupid indifference to their 
advancement ascribed to him by the biographer, 
Mr. Sheridan received from their success in life 
the highest gratification of which a paternal 
heart is susceptible. On the occasion of his 
favourite son, Charles, being made Secretary 
at War in Ireland, he gave a dinner at the 
London Tavern, to which he invited all the 
friends who shared in the pleasure he expe- 
rienced from this fulfilment of one of his fondest 
wishes j and the circumstances of their joyous 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 36 1 

meeting have been related to the author by a 
surviving friend who was present. 

We shall only notice one or two more inaccu- 
racies in the " Memoirs," before we advert with 
regret to the last and most glaring mis-statement, 
relative to the elder Mr. Sheridan's death. 

In page 152, it is asserted that 

" Some of the booksellers having undertaken 
a new edition of the Works of Swift, in nineteen 
volumes, engaged Mr. Sheridan to correct the 
press, and write a new Life of the Author." 

The idea of a new edition, and Life of Swift, 
originated with Mr. Sheridan himself. He never 
corrected the press. Both as the successful 
disciple of Swift, and from the habits of inti- 
macy in which his father the Doctor had lived 
with him, Mr. Sheridan was peculiarly qualified 
to be the editor of the works of that classical 
genius, and to rescue his memory from the va- 
rious aspersions of other biographers. 

I shall now briefly mention the occupations 
of the few last years of his life. In 1785, Mr. 
Sheridan made a tour of pleasure, by which his 



362 MEMOIRS OF 

health was much benefited, with Agmondesham 
Vesey and his lady, who is well known in the 
fashionable and literary world, and whose name 
has become familiar to the public by means of 
the correspondence of Miss Carter, Miss Talbot, 
and other distinguished literary characters. 
The tour finished at Tunbridge, where Mr. 
Sheridan was, during his stay there, successively 
the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Vesey, and Lord 
and Lady Cremorne. The ensuing winter in 
London, the venerable Mrs. Vesey renewed her 
civilities to Mr. Sheridan, and paid his youngest 
daughter, Elizabeth, now Mrs. H. Lefanu, who 
had then come from Ireland to reside with him, 
the distinguished attention of a visit, though she 
never in general left her own house. At her 
evening parties (or soirees, as they would now 
be called), to which Mr. and Miss Sheridan had 
a general invitation, the guests were sure to 
meet, on the most pleasant and easy footing, all 
the names of the time most distinguished for 
rank and literature. 

At Agmondesham Vesey's one evening, Mr. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 363 

Sheridan was a witness to one of those unac- 
countable bursts of spleen in Dr. Johnson, which 
sometimes reduced that highly-gifted man to the 
common level of humanity. It was the Doctor's 
first appearance among them after a pretty long 

indisposition. Mrs. H , a relation and 

friend of Mrs. Vesey's, and a woman of the 
most kind and benevolent manners, advanced, 
delighted to see him, and with a countenance 
expressive of cordial satisfaction welcomed him 
with, " How do you do, Dr. Johnson ? I am 
extremely glad to see you here again." Whe- 
ther Johnson thought this an officious fa- 
miliarity, or did not like his sickness to be 

noticed, Mrs. H had the mortification 

to receive from the Doctor this rough and un- 
expected reply : " No, Ma'am ! you are not glad 
to see me ; nor I am not glad to see you \ nor 
I don't care that for you !" 

In another visit to Tunbridge, in 1786, Mr. 
Sheridan was gratified by a flattering proof of 
the efficacy of his system. 

The Rev. Mr. Foster, who served the chapel 



364 MEMOIRS OF 

there, sought his acquaintance, solely on the 
ground of his literary obligations to him ; as he 
declared that any merit he might possess in the 
performance of the divine service, he owed to 
a sedulous attention to the precepts promul- 
gated in Mr. Sheridan's works. 

About this time, Mr. Sheridan entertained 
some idea of making himself more extensively 
useful in this way, by preparing young clergy- 
men, between the interval of College and ordi- 
nation, for the proper and forcible delivery of 
the service of the Church of England. He 
meant wholly to have confined himself to giving 
them instructions in the art of reading, and a 
graceful delivery, in the English language. 
Having now retired from public life ten years, 
he was much encouraged to devote his thoughts 
to private tuition, by the numerous applications 
he received this year from persons of the first 
distinction in the state and army, who were 
anxious to place their sons under his care. But 
a more brilliant prospect, in Mr. Sheridan's 
opinion, at this time opened to him. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 865 

Understanding from his son Charles, then 
Secretary at War in Ireland, that Mr. Orde, 
Secretary to His Grace the Duke of Rutland, 
was desirous of improving the system of educa- 
tion in that kingdom, he visited Ireland at the 
earnest request of his eldest son, in the year 
1787, to try to form his long-planned National 
Establishment, under the auspices of a govern- 
ment so friendly to it. For this purpose, Mr. 
Sheridan had several interviews with Mr. Orde, 
to make the necessary arrangements. 

The funds for carrying this truly national 
and patriotic scheme into execution were to 
have arisen from the putting down such free 
schools as were given by favour, and in which, 
by the gradual abuses which had gained ground 
in the lapse of time, no duty was done. These 
funds were to be appropriated to defraying the 
expences of the projected national institution. 
The scite of it was to be at New Geneva, near 
Waterford ; for such was the name that had been 
given to some buildings erected there in the 
year 1783, in the expectation that some of the 



366 MEMOIRS OF 

expatriated Genevese would have settled in 
Ireland. Mr. Sheridan was now truly happy at 
what appeared so near a prospect of the great 
object of his life being accomplished. The 
unforeseen and deeply lamented death of the 
Duke of Rutland, and the consequent removal 
of Mr. Orde, put a final end to these hopes, at 
the moment there was the most rational pros- 
pect of their being realized. 

This unexpected overthrow, combined with 
other vexations, affected Mr. Sheridan's health 
so much, that a trial of the air of Lisbon was 
recommended to him. Although very little 
able to undertake the journey, the idea of a 
removal to a totally different scene exhilarated 
his spirits, and the anticipation of amusement 
to be derived from a variety of new objects, 
imparted to his mind a momentary energy, 
which gave a fallacious promise of prolonged 
existence. 

In the summer of 1788, Mr. Sheridan and his 
youngest daughter left Dublin. The party 
with whom they passed over to England was 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 367 

particularly pleasant ; consisting of the cele- 
brated Mrs. Crewe and her amiable sister-in-law, 
Mrs. Lane ; and an accidental meeting with 
another highly distinguished character rendered 
this little voyage still more agreeable to them. 

On stepping into the boat which was to con- 
vey him to the vessel, Mr. Sheridan was cour- 
teously accosted by a gentleman among the pas- 
sengers, who, being more commodiously situated, 
and observing in Mr. Sheridan the indications 
of age and suffering, politely proposed an ex- 
change of seats. 

He immediately entered into conversation 
with the obliging stranger, and from the first 
few observations he uttered, perceived he pos- 
sessed a mind that ranked above the common 
order. To Mr. Sheridan, who had the highest 
relish and value for the talents of conversation, 
and an uncommon power of distinguishing and 
eliciting them in others, this was a delightful 
discovery: and the two gentlemen found so 
many topics in common, and discussed them in 
a manner so agreeable, that insensibly they col- 



368 MEMOIRS OF 

lected a little auditory around them, attracted 
by the intellectual pleasure which the collision 
of two accomplished minds so unexpectedly 
afforded them. This highly-gifted man, of 
whom it might be said, as Johnson observed of 
Burke, that a person could not stand under a 
gateway for shelter from a shower in his com- 
pany, without hearing him utter something 
worth recording, was John Philpot Curran.* 

On shipboard the civilities of Mr. Curran 
continued ; and every attention in his power 
was paid by him to Mr. Sheridan and his 
daughter. These civilities did not cease till 
they landed at Park Gate, where Mr. Curran's 
humanity and consideration evinced itself in a 
friendly offer to relieve Mr. Sheridan from the 
trouble attending on the examination of his 
baggage at the Custom-House, by transacting 
that business at the same time with his own. 

The proposal was gratefully accepted, and 
this was the last that Mr. Sheridan and his 
daughter saw of their pleasant compagnon de 

* Afterwards Master of the Rolls in Ireland. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 369 

voyage^ but the transient glow of spirits pro- 
duced by these circumstances subsided by the 
time Mr. Sheridan had arrived at Chester. His 
kind friends expressed their anxiety that he 
should remain in that neighbourhood till he had 
recovered from the fatigues of his journey. Mrs. 
Lane obligingly offered him her house that he 
might remove from the disturbance of an inn : 
Mrs. Crewe also joined in requesting him to 
pass some days at Crewe Hall ; but his anxiety 
to reach the place of his destination urged 
him to decline all these offers. Though in 
a state of health so precarious, he proceeded 
immediately on his journey, and arrived in 
London, accompanied only by his youngest 
daughter,* and not " accompanied by his friend 
Mr. Whyte," as erroneously stated in the 
Memoirs of the Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan, 
p. 154. 

The only foundation for that assertion is, 
that Mr. Whyte was travelling in England 
about the same time, with his daughter. A 
* Mrs. H. Lefanu. 
2 B 



370 MEMOIRS OF 

coolness of many years had prevailed between 
Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Whyte. During his last 
visit to Ireland, Mr. Sheridan's youngest daugh- 
ter had prevailed on him to be so far reconciled 
to Mr. Whyte, that a slight intercourse of mere 
civility passed between them. Some days after 
their arrival in London, Mr. Whyte came to 
that place with his daughter, who had lived in 
habits of intimacy with Miss Sheridan ; at her 
intercession, Mr. Sheridan consented to see 
Mr. Whyte, and it w T as indeed their " last" in- 
terview.* 

* In the " Memoirs of the Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan," 
p. 138, in the account of the elder Mr. Sheridan's settle- 
ment with his creditors after his return from France, not 
being in the manner approved of by Mr. Whyte, the ex- 
pression occurs, 

" Considering the particular obligations of Mr. Sheridan 
to his friend." — 

Now the loan of a hundred pounds, punctually repaid, 
which Mr. Sheridan applied for soon after the loss of his 
wife, was the only obligation ever incurred. That he should 
have asked this small favour from the man tvho otoed every 
thing to him, was very natural, the more so, as at the time 
he thought well of him. Whatever coolness took place at 

that 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 371 

After stating that Mr. Sheridan breathed his 
last the 14th of August, at his lodgings in 
Margate, Dr. Watkins adds : 

" His remains were interred on the following 
week, without being attended by any of his 
nearest relatives." — P. 155. 

To this his family beg leave to oppose the 
following true statement of the facts. 

During the short stay of Mr. Sheridan and 
his daughter in town, Mr. R. B. Sheridan was 
also in London, detained by business, and visited 
his father and sister daily. He was very de- 
sirous they should go down to Deepden, a 
house in Surrey, lent to him by his Grace the 
late Duke of Norfolk ; but the elder Mr. She- 
ridan was anxious to go on to Margate, at which 
place he proposed to rest previous to his in- 

that time was got over, as it was after that period Mr. She- 
ridan made over his right of publishing his " Art of Read- 
ing," in Ireland, to Mr. Whyte, without expecting any 
return. 

The second coolness arose on Mr. Sheridan's part from a 
stronger cause, and was never removed beyond the slight 
reconciliation mentioned in the text. 
2B 2 



37# MEMOIRS OF 

tended voyage. After his arrival at Margate 
his health declined rapidly, and, being shortly 
followed thither by his kinsman, the late Dr. 
Morris, that affectionate friend and relation 
immediately perceived all hope was over, and 
wrote in consequence to Richard Brinsley 
Sheridan. Mr. Sheridan, upon receiving this 
summons, immediately set off for Margate, and 
by travelling all night, arrived in time for his 
father to be sensible of his attentions. 

He never left him till he breathed his last, 
which was nearly two days after the arrival of 
Mr. Sheridan. Having conducted his sister,* 
who had never quitted her father, to Deepden, 
the Duke of Norfolk's seat, where Mrs. Sheri- 
dan was then residing, Mr. Sheridan, without 
resting a single night, returned to Margate, 
accompanied by his brother-in-law, Richard 
Tickell, Esq. and Joseph Richardson, Esq., to 
make the necessary arrangements respecting 
the funeral. 

It had been Mr. Sheridan's intention to have 

* Mrs. H. Lefanu. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 373 

his father's remains conveyed to be buried near 
those of Dr. Robert Sumner, of Harrow, his 
dearest and most esteemed friend j but, on 
opening the will, he found that the late Mr. 
Sheridan had left the most positive injunctions 
that in whatever place he died, he should be 
buried there, and in the most private manner 
possible. According to these directions, Mr. 
Sheridan, as chief mourner, attended the corpse 
of his father to the village of St. Peter, where 
his remains were deposited, in a vault in the 
centre aisle of St. Peter's church. The fune- 
ral was also attended by the only other relations 
he had then in England, the late Dr. Morris 
and his son,* Richard Tickell, Joseph Richard- 
son, and the faithful attached servant who' had 
brought down the will, and who, with the wor- 
thy Dr. Morris and his son, had remained at 
Margate during Mr. Sheridan's short absence 
at Deepden in Surrey. Every mark of respect 
consistent with the directions in the will, 'was 
shown by Mr. Sheridan on the occasion ; and 

* Charles Morris, Esq., now of Southampton. 
2b 3 



374 MEMOIRS OF 

if others have been attended with more osten- 
tation to the grave, few have been with greater 
sincerity lamented. 

To those who are only acquainted with the 
character of the elder Mr. Sheridan through 
the distorted medium of partial and incorrect 
biographers, — those who imagine him a splenetic 
projector, always justly disappointed in his 
schemes, and then railing loudly against the 
inflictors of his disappointments, — to such he 
must appear quite a new character, in the more 
faithful portrait drawn of him by the memory 
of his only surviving daughter. 

In fact, though persecuted through life by 
fortune, and severely tried by adversity, few 
among his contemporaries were more esteemed 
than Mr. Sheridan ; and I may add, that in 
consequence of an equally happy disposition of 
mind and body, few, during the intervals of 
affliction, enjoyed with a greater relish the plea- 
sures that his life afforded. Unlike his great 
compeer Johnson, the imperfection of whose 
senses obliged him, like the blind, to seek 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. S^5 

for pleasure almost exclusively in conversa- 
tion, Mr. Sheridan, though well qualified to 
shine there, possessed a knowledge, and ex- 
cised a fine taste in all the arts, as well 
as a keen relish for the beauties of nature. 
Johnson thought Fleet Street finer than Green- 
wich Park, and the elms near Bolt Court the 
ne plus ultra of rural elegance. Sheridan had a 
love for rural " sights and sounds," and a judg- 
ment in natural scenery, perhaps unparalleled 
in one whose professional habits obliged him to 
mingle so much in active life. Possessing all 
his senses in the keenest perfection, his eagle 
eye discerned every object of the landscape at 
the remotest distance ; and his taste for the 
beauties of painting was in proportion to his 
admiration of nature's models. Without any 
of the cant of criticism, Mr. Sheridan possessed 
every requisite for a judge in the art ; nor was 
the pleasure with which he contemplated a fine 
prospect greater than that with which he stood 
in admiring contemplation of any of the master- 
pieces of human genius. Johnson was utterly 
2, b 4 



3J6 MEMOIRS OF 

insensible to the powers of music. Once, and 
but once, his Biographer records, he was some- 
what affected by musical sounds ; they struck 
him as solemn and affecting, but then he con- 
fessed it was at a funeral. Sheridan possessed 
both judgment and taste in music ; indeed, such 
might be supposed from the exquisite delicacy 
of his ear, and his unrivalled skill in declama- 
tion. To hear him repeat Dryden's Ode for 
St. Cecilia's Day, has been designated by one of 
the greatest judges now living as a master-piece 
of recitation. He gave to that divine ode, justly 
the pride of English lyric numbers, all that force, 
variety and fire, with which the mind of the 
venerable Dryden must have glowed, when he 
pronounced (not with the self-sufficiency of 
vanity, but with the dignified confidence of 
merit,) " that it was the best ode which had 
ever yet been written, or which ever would be 
composed."* 

* " Mr. Malone has preserved a tradition, that the father 
of Lord Chief Justice Marlay, then a Templar, and frequenter 
of Wilis' coffee-house, tpok an opportunity to pay his court 

to 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 377 

In his youth Mr. Sheridan had been attached 
to conviviality and the sports of the field ; but 
these tastes diminished from the time he married, 
and the loss of the faithful partner who had 
been indeed to him " a second self," cast a gloom 
at intervals over the latter part of his life. Many 
more particulars relating to Mrs. Sheridan might 
have been collected, but that the mention of 
her name caused with it recollections so painful 
to her husband, that his children, from a sense 
of duty, abstained from recalling, by imprudent 
questions, the memory of his irreparable loss. 

In his notions of female education Mr. Sheri- 
dan was extremely liberal. In France he had 

to Dryden on the publication of < Alexander's Feast ;' and 
happening to sit next him, congratulated him on having pro- 
duced the finest and noblest ode that had ever been written 
in any language. < You are right, young gentleman (re- 
plied Dryden), a nobler ode never tuas produced, nor ever 
will.' This singularly strong expression cannot be placed to 
the score of vanity ; it was an inward consciousness of merit, 
which burst forth probably almost involuntarily, and I fear 
must be admitted as prophetic." — Scott's Life of Dryderty 
pp. 411,412. 



378 MEMOIRS OF 

begun to teach his eldest daughter Latin, in the 
class with her brothers ; had not various cir- 
cumstances occurred to present obstacles to 
his designs, he would have continued the same 
instructions to both his daughters. His perfect 
judgment in all the requisites of his profession, 
even envy itself has never been able to deny ; 
that this judgment was equalled by his candour, 
the following little history will testify. 

In 1775, the last year of Garrick's manage- 
ment of Drury Lane, Mr. Sheridan was present 
at Mrs. Cowley's comedy of " The Runaway," 
in which a sentimental part was sustained by a 
young lady, whose talents were highly extolled 
by those who had the best opportunities of judg- 
ing of her. Notwithstanding this, the comedy 
was so insipid, and the part she performed so 
little adapted to the display of superior powers, 
that it was difficult to discover merit shrouded 
under so unfavourable a disguise, and the highly- 
praised young actress made very little impression 
on him. It was still confidently asserted, that 
she needed only to be brought forward in parts 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 379 

equal to her genius, to shine forth a theatrical 
star of the first magnitude ; and her friends 
lamented the selfish policy of Garrick, who 
avoided bringing her forward, from a fear that 
she would divide the public attention with him. 
As his jealousy even of female performers was 
well known, the truth of this assertion was never 
doubted ; and one anecdote in particular was 
circulated, that on occasion of a dispute with 
Miss Younge, who had begun, as well as other 
actresses, to shew a refractory temper, he had 
said, " I tell you, you had better not give your- 
selves airs, for there is a woman in the house, who, 
if I chose to bring her forward, would eclipse 
you all in youth, beauty and talent." 

These mysterious expressions were consider- 
ed by Yates, Younge, and Abington, the three 
reigning female favourites, as merely an empty 
boast ; but much mirth was excited by the idea 
of Garrick's " Greenroom Goddess," for such 
was the name she obtained in consequence of 
the praises he had bestowed on her. Her at- 
traction, however, was not sufficient to enable 



380 MEMOIRS OF 

her to obtain a renewed engagement at the end 
of the season. A few years after, Richard 
Brinsley Sheridan, Esq. had succeeded to the 
direction of the theatre, the elder Mr. Sheri- 
dan, while at Bath for his health, was strongly 
solicited to go to the play, to witness the per- 
formance of a young actress, who was said to 
distance all competition in tragedy. Though in 
general he had a dislike to provincial exhibi- 
tions, Mr. Sheridan was induced, by the warm 
commendations bestowed upon this young per- 
former, to depart from his usual practice, and go 
to the theatre to see her. He found to his 
astonishment, that it was the lady who had 
made so little impression on him some years 
before in the " Runaway ;" but who, as Garrick 
had secretly declared, was possessed of tragic 
powers sufficient to delight and electrify an 
audience. There prevailed at that time, and 
long afterwards, a very disagreeable clause in 
the articles of the Bath company, by which they 
were obliged to perform also at Bristol ; and in 
consequence, by some mistake in their frequent 



MRS, FRANCES SHERIDAN. 381 

and hurried journeys, the stage clothes of this 
admired actress were not arrived on the night 
Mr. Sheridan saw her, and she was obliged to 
perform in one of the dresses she usually wore in 
private life. But no disadvantage of dress could 
conceal her transcendant merit from an eye so 
penetrating as that of Mr. Sheridan ; and after 
the play was over he went behind the scenes, to 
get introduced to her, in order to compliment 
her in the highest terms upon her performance. 
Such a distinction, from a judge of his acknow- 
ledged merit, could not fail of being highly 
flattering. Mr. Sheridan said, " I am surprised, 
madam, that with such talents you should con- 
fine yourself to the country - y talents that would 
be sure of commanding, in London, fame and 
success." 

The actress modestly replied, that she had 
already tried London, but without the success 
which had been anticipated ; and that she was 
advised by her friends to be content with the 
fame and profit she obtained at Bath, particu- 



382 MEMOIRS OF 

larly as her voice was deemed unequal to the 
extent of a London theatre. 

Mr. Sheridan, who judged very differently of 
this actress's powers from what her modesty 
induced her to do herself, spoke, immediately on 
his return to London, to Mr. King, the acting 
manager of Drury Lane, strenuously recom- 
mending to him, if he had any regard to the 
interests of the theatre, to engage a performer 
of abilities so distinguished. 

His zeal for the success of his protegee did not 
stop here, but, upon her being engaged, he di- 
rected her, with a truly kind solicitude, in the 
choice of a part for her first appearance. With 
the usual preference of young and handsome 
actresses for a character of pomp and show, she 
inclined to that of Euphrasia, in the " Grecian 
Daughter ;" but the juster taste of Mr. Sheridan 
determined her in favour of the far more natural 
and affecting character of " Isabella ;" and the 
judgment with which the selection was made was 
amply confirmed by the bursts of rapturous ad- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 383 

miration which hailed, after the long obscurity to 
which the jealousy of contemporary talent had 
condemned her exertions, the full blaze of trans- 
cendant merit in Mrs. Siddons ! The kindness 
of Mr. Sheridan, which did not stop here, but 
shewed itself in every possible way in her behalf, 
was gratefully acknowledged by the object of it ; 
who, when at the height of her professional pros- 
perity, was wont to term him " The father of 
my fortune and my fame !" 

The kindness and humanity of Mr. Sheridan's 
disposition were great ; and in his professional 
career he was often tempted to exert those 
qualities in a degree that, by the mere worldling, 
might be deemed imprudent. On some one's 
remonstrating with him, while he had the ma 
nagement of the Dublin Theatre, upon keeping 
a superannuated actor on the establishment, to 
whom he paid a weekly salary, when totally 
precluded from further exertion, Mr. Sheridan, 
with benevolent simplicity, replied, " The poor 
man must live I"* " Yes," objected his friend, 

* This answer of Mr. Sheridan irresistibly brings to mind 

the 



384 MEMOIRS OF 

" but why should it be at your expense ?" Let 
those who feel inclined to term such conduct 
folly, examine their own hearts, and dread to 
discover selfishness lurking under the form of 
prudence there. 

His power of exciting attachment among 
his inferiors and dependents was very great. 
The fidelity and devotion of the faithful 
servant who attended his remains to the 
grave at Margate, was, through life, and 
after death, ^something extraordinary. William 
Thompson (that was the name of the worthy 
man) had been in his service twelve years ; and 
after Mr. Sheridan's death, he visited annually 
the scene where his beloved master's remains 
were deposited. One of Mr. Sheridan's sur- 
viving daughters, who was ignorant of the cause 
of his absence, inquired it of his wife who re- 

the opposite sentiment expressed by a great French states- 
man, on refusing a small petition, " Mais erifin, Monseigneur," 
observed the starving applicant ; " il faut que je vive" 
— " Mais, Monsieur ;" replied His Eminence, " Jen en vois 
pas la necessite!" 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 385 

plied, " Indeed, Ma'am, he goes there every 
year to weep over his old master's grave !" 

Mr. Sheridan's pursuits through life were un- 
dertaken with a desire of benefiting mankind, 
and particularly the then rising generation. 
When first Mrs. Barbauld's excellent lessons for 
children came out, his daughter brought them 
to him as being evidently suggested by an idea 
thrown out in his " Art of Reading." It was 
the following passage in which he points out 
the best manner of instructing children in a 
clear and natural manner of reading, and of 
obviating the danger of their falling into either 
of the extremes of monotone or improper 
emphasis : — 

" The way to prevent this is, to put no book 
into their hands, which is not suited to their 
slender capacities ; and to take care that they 
never read any thing, the meaning of which they 
do not fully comprehend. The best way indeed, 
of furnishing them with lessons for a long time, 
would be to take down their common prattle, and 
make them read it, just as they speak it ; only 



386 



MEMOIRS OF 



correcting any bad habits they may have ac- 
quired in their utterance." — Art of Reading, 
Part L 

When Mr. Sheridan saw the Art of Reading, 
which had before been a torment to children, 
made delightful by these admirable " Lessons," 
he acknowledged the adoption of his scheme, 
and was much pleased with the execution of it. 
Every thing that bore a reference to education, 
whether French or English, had an interest for 
him. When Madame Genlis's works came out, 
he read them with avidity, particularly her 
" Adele et Theodore" Still reverting to the 
feeling that was uppermost in his mind, the 
history of Lagaraye was what struck him most 
in that work ; and the benevolent old man 
regretted to his daughter that he was not equally 
favoured by fortune, solely on the ground that 
it prevented him from being so extensively 
useful. 

He had, however, the satisfaction daily to 
receive increasing testimonies, both from his 
countrymen and distinguished and grateful 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 387 

foreigners, of the utility of his exertions, and 
the lights which he had thrown on the English 
language. 

When the Duke de Bouillon visited England, 
he sought the acquaintance of Mr. Sheridan. 
The illustrious foreigner spoke English with 
perfect facility, and an excellent accent, which 
he attributed solely to the study of Mr. Sheri- 
dan's works. By the French writers of his day, 
he was termed " Homme celehre dans la Re- 
publique des Lettres." In Italy, his mode of 
writing words as pronounced, has been followed 
in the formation of a Dictionary of the Italian 
language. With what justice then can the 
elder Mr. Sheridan's claims be styled " empiri- 
cal pretensions ?"* with what justice can he be 
termed a man " of no authority in the world of 
letters ?"f a man whose mode of instruction in 
oratory would, if followed, " clear the room."t 

The best refutation of this last aspersion is, 

* Memoirs of the Rt. Hon. R. B. Sheridan, 
f Memoirs of the Rt. Hon. R. B. Sheridan. 
J Dr. Johnson was the original author of this last sarcasm. 
C Z c 2 



388 MEMOIRS OF 

to name the orator who was wholly formed on 
Mr. Sheridan's principles — his son, the late 
Right Honourable R. B. Sheridan. No one 
can feel for the mental powers of Dr. Johnson 
greater respect, greater admiration, than the 
writer of this defence ; for his glowing elo- 
quence, his pure morality, his profound insight 
into human nature, and his critical judgment in 
literature — but his fame is too great to be in- 
creased by the ruin of a rival. Let each have 
his proper degree of praise, and let their claims 
be adjudged by the voice of impartiality. 
Equally labourers in the cause of utility and 
virtue, the written language was Johnson's prin- 
cipal study, the spoken language the study of 
Sheridan. Johnson chiefly aimed at instructing 
men — Sheridan, at forming the habits of youth. 
Grant that Sheridan was enthusiastic in his 
pursuit of this favourite object, and in his ideas 
of the benefits that were to accrue from it — is 
not enthusiasm the soul of every human pursuit, 
without which it would be impossible to toil 
against disgust, and difficulty, and danger? 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 389 

" There is an enthusiasm of the head, and that 
is genius ; there is an enthusiasm of the heart, 
and that is virtue. There is also an enthusiasm 
of the temper."* 

Of the two first species, the elder Mr. Sheri- 
dan had a considerable share ; nor was he with- 
out a portion of the latter. And it was rewarded, 
although not exactly in the way to which his 
sanguine wishes pointed. His ideas on educa- 
tion have gradually spread, and have been 
adopted in this country by all those who have 
either written for youth, or introduced new im- 
provements in education. His plans, for which 
the times were unripe, have influenced every 
amelioration that has been since introduced in 
the early and difficult approach to learning. 
His simple, yet nervous eloquence, like a fer- 
tilizing stream, has enriched the minds of those 
who lasted it, with pure draughts of knowledge 
and literature, and with views the most liberal 
and praiseworthy : and (to quote a phrase ap- 
plied on a former occasion), in all the modern 
works in which learning has been cleared of its 
* Edgeworth. 



390 MEMOIRS OF 

thorns and difficulties, in which language has 
been placed in its clearest and most beautiful 
light, and the parental task of education sim- 
plified, the praise must be adjudged, in the first 
instance, to him in whom such ideas all origi- 
nated ; and their authors must gratefully ac- 
knowledge that " Sheridan rang the bell."* 

* " La multiplicite des satires" says Madame Genlis, u a 
produit le hesoin des panegyriques." 

No one can feel more than the author of this note the ap- 
parent aukwardness of eulogizing near relatives ; but when 
an unjust and unfair attack has been made on the character 
of an individual, it is but fair to adduce the testimonials that 
can be produced on the other side in his favour. Mr. Thomas 
Sheridan has been represented as an enemy to universities, 
yet he received academical degrees from both of them. As 
despising scholarship, yet his classical attainments were re- 
spected by such men as Dr. Markham, Dr. Parr, and Dr 
Sumner of Harrow. The veneration of Mr. Thomas Sheridan 
for " The great Ancients," was so high, as to be the subject 
in his family of good-humoured raillery. His desire was to 
give his son Richard the best possible classical education, 
and he even wished to extend the knowledge of the Latin 
language to his daughters. The whole foundation on which 
the report of his contempt of University learning rests, is, — 
he asserted, both in his works and conversation, that in ac- 
quiring 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 391 

quiring the dead languages, the living and native tongue 
should not be wholly neglected. How did the Greeks and 
Romans themselves arrive to such a height of fame in poetry 
and eloquence ? was it by devoting their whole time to foreign 
tongues ? to the cultivation of the Hebrew, the Egyptian, and 
the Chaldee ? No ; it was by incessantly studying and polish- 
ing their otvn. " Imitate the Antients," was Mr. Sheridan's 
principle, while he was supposed to have said ' * Neglect them." 
His other principle was an assertion (never disproved), that 
the English language contains in itself all the sources of 
harmony in poetic numbers, though by means different 
from those possessed by the Latin.* He said that it was 
unnecessary young people, not intended for the learned 
professions, should devote so much time to the learned lan- 
guages ; an idea that has been since expanded by Mr. Edge- 
worth. He said, that a mode of education suited to the 
particular destinations of youth, would be desirable; and 
since that time there have arisen separate modes — for military, 
commercial, and even agricultural education. If Mr. Sheri- 
dan could have foreseen the innumerable improvements in- 
troduced in modern times, he would have acknowledged his 
most sanguine wishes gratified : and if he had himself lived in 
these days, he would have probably seen no necessity for 
writing upon the subject of British Education. 

* That such is the case in all modern languages except the French, is an 
opinion confirmed by M. Sismondi. — Literature of the South, vol. i. p. 109. 



392 MEMOIRS OF 



CHAPTER XII. 

Anecdotes of the Right Honourable Richard Brinsley She- 
ridan and his family. — Contradiction of a statement in 
Dr. Watkins's Memoirs. — Lady Margaret Fordyce the 
real heroine of i( The Picture Varnished." — Miss Linley 
becomes Mrs. Elizabeth Sheridan.— The biographer of 
R. B. Sheridan misinformed respecting her.— The Royal 
Concert. — The Duenna. — Anecdote of Barry the Actor. 
— Examination into the mysterious reports circulated 
relative to the real author of the School for Scandal. — 
History of the School for Scandal — Morality of the 
piece. — Contradiction of several mis-statements respecting 
the Linley Family. — Affecting death of Miss Maria Lin- 
ley. — Contradiction of the statement relating to Mrs. 
Elizabeth Sheridan's death. — Interesting particulars of the 
late R. B. Sheridan — Mr. Charles Francis Sheridan. — 
Conclusion. 

It now only remains to examine some pas- 
sages relating to the late Right Hon. Richard 
Brinsley Sheridan himself. 

The first is a literary mistake. It is observed 
in the "Memoirs," p. 182, 183. 

" When the breathings of affection are ex- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 393 

pressed in harmonious numbers, and clothed 
with the richness of metaphor, they are certain 
of giving pleasure to the female object of ado- 
ration. Even the extravagance of hyperbolical 
adulation, and the absurdity of allegorical com- 
parison, will, in such cases, be received as pure 
incense, of which these lines descriptive of the 
personal charms of Miss Linley afford a strik- 
ing evidence : 

" Mark'd you her eye, &c." 

Now it so happens that the lines by R. B. She- 
ridan, beginning, " Mark'd you her eye," were 
written in praise, not of Miss Linley, but of 
Lady Margaret Fordyce, sister of Lady Anne 
Lindsay, the charming author of " Auld Robin 
Gray," and at that time the reigning belle of 
Bath. An anonymous poem, entitled, " The 
Bath Picture," had appeared, containing a des- 
cription of the principal beauties then admired 
at that fashionable watering-place. When the 
bard arrived at the name of Lady Margaret 
Fordyce, he could only afford her the following 
moderate praise : 



394 MEMOIRS OF 

" Remark too the dimpling sweet smile 
Lady Margaret's fair countenance wears." 

Mr. Sheridan, who was often of Lady Marga- 
ret's parties, and felt for her the enthusiastic 
admiration of a young poet, seized the pen, 
and in an answer to " The Bath Picture," enti- 
tled, " Clio's Protest, or The Picture Varnish- 
ed," after several pretty severe strictures on 
other parts of the poem, thus castigates the 
anonymous bard for his insensibility, and vindi- 
cates the lady's transcendant charms : 

" But hark ! did not our bard repeat 
The love-born name of Margaret ? 
Attention seizes every ear ; 
We pant for the description here. 
If ever dulness left thy brow, 
Pindar, we say, 'twill leave thee now. 
But oh ! old Dulness' son anointed, 
His mother never disappointed ; 
For after all we're left to seek 
A dimple in Fordyce's cheek. 
And could you really discover, 
In gazing those sweet beauties over, 
No other charm, no winning grace, 
Adorning either mind or face, 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 395 

But one poor dimple to express 
The quintessence of loveliness. 
Mark'd you her eye of sparkling blue ? 
Mark'd you her cheek of rosy hue ? 
That eye in liquid circles moving ; 
That cheek abash'd at man's approving ; 
The one. Love's arrows darting round, 
The other blushing for the wound ; 
Did she not speak, did she not move, 
Now Pallas, now the Queen of Love !" 

The reader of taste will perceive a great 
beauty in the sudden change of accent in the 
line beginning, " Mark'd you her eye," which 
actually gives the impression that the poet had 
struck into a new measure, although the poem 
is throughout in eight syllable verse. 

The last eight lines were set to music, and 
became deservedly popular. They breathe the 
very soul and spirit of beauty, and flow with a 
force and fire which proves how successfully 
Mr. Sheridan might have devoted himself to 
poetry, had not higher cares entirely absorbed 
his attention. 



396 MEMOIRS OF 

I shall not offer any more poetical extracts, 
not to trench upon the claims of another pub- 
lication ; but this one was necessary to show, 
that if the Biographer of Mr. Sheridan had 
read but a few lines more, he could never have 
made the mistake of applying these verses to 
Mrs. Sheridan, as he would have seen both the 
name of " Margaret" and of " Fordyce" insert- 
ed. As for the rest of the paragraph, granting 
the assertion upon which it is grounded to 
have been correct, the expression, "the ex- 
travagance of hyperbolical adulation," is mis- 
placed : because, however inapplicable to Mrs. 
Sheridan's peculiar style of beauty the praise 
contained in the above lines might be, her 
claim to universal admiration, not only for per- 
sonal charms, but for talent, taste, judgment, 
and excellence of disposition, placed her so 
high in the opinion of all who knew her, as to 
make it much more difficult to find expressions 
adequate to her merit, than to risk falling into 
enthusiastic praise. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 397 

The next passage I shall proceed to notice, 
occurs in pages 193-4-5, in which the long-con- 
tested question is debated, whether Mr. Sheri- 
dan should have let his wife sing in public or 
not? a question in which the biographer con- 
sidering him as " a man possessing neither 
pedigree nor property," p. 195, throws his 
weight into the scale in favour of the measure. 
I know that nothing is so likely to excite the 
ridicule of the superficial, as an attempt to 
vindicate family pretensions : yet, at the hazard 
of encountering it, I must repel the first part 
of this unfounded assertion. If an unbroken 
descent from a family of equal antiquity and 
respectability in Ireland ; a family which made 
its rare boast that none of its descendants of 
either sex had ever transgressed the laws of 
honour, and which, though at the beginning of 
the last century it no longer possessed the 
large estates that the ancient geographers of 
the kingdom assigned to the Sheridans, yet 
never fell from its rank among the respectable 
gentry of the county of Cavan — If this does not 



398 MEMOIRS OF 

constitute a " pedigree" honourable, though not 
ennobled, I am unacquainted with the mean- 
ing of the term. 

The learned and conscientious prelate Wil- 
liam Sheridan, Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh, 
who held that united see in the reign of Charles 
the Second, and was deprived for refusing to 
take the oaths at the Revolution, was not, as 
Dr. Watkins supposes (p. 2), a distant relation 
of the Sheridan family. The grandfather of 
Dr. Thomas Sheridan was younger brother of 
the Bishop of Kilmore. Perhaps it was the 
beauty of the alliteration "Pedigree and Pro- 
perty" in the preceding paragraph, that tempted 
the biographer, who thus continues : 

" He carried his high notions so far, as to 
prevent his wife from singing at a royal concert, 
alleging that such an exhibition would degrade 
his character as a gentleman."-— P. 193. 

This is an unfortunate mistake. The bio- 
grapher had heard something about a royal 
concert, but totally mistook the circumstances. 
The fact was, that Mr. R. B. Sheridan's ob- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 399 

jections were conquered in this one instance ; 
and he unhesitatingly gave his consent that his 
wife should sing at the royal concert ; the ele- 
vated character of that entertainment having 
obviated his former objections, Mrs. Sheridan 
was to have appeared there, when an unex- 
pected change in the arrangements for the 
royal amusements, into which it is unnecessary 
to enter more particularly in this place, oc- 
casioned the idea to be given up. 

Dr. Watkins goes on : 

" It was observed, and justly, that Sheridan 
having no property of his own, nor any calling 
by "which he could maintain a family, exerted an 
arbitrary authority in restraining his wife from 
following the occupation to which she had been 
bred, and by which she could not fail in a few 
years to realize a fortune." 

Now Mr. Sheridan was at this time a member 
of the Middle Temple ; and, had not more 
tempting (perhaps not more fortunate) pros- 
pects opened to his view, he had as fair a 
promise of advancement in his profession as the 



400 MEMOIRS OF 

most brilliant and astonishing talents could 
afford. His wife also was in no immediate 
distress ; as the most highly gifted of his daugh- 
ters, she was always distinguished by her father's 
favour, and had made enough by her profes- 
sional exertions before marriage as to render 
the continuance of them unnecessary. But Dr. 
Watkins thinks they owed their existence at 
that time to the Magazines. 

" But he still continued inflexible, though it 
was with great difficulty he could raise the 
necessary supplies, and that by very equivocal 
means. One of his resources was that of 
writing for the fugitive publications of the day, 
in which he was materially assisted by his wife. 

" He has been heard to say, * Mrs. Sheridan 
and myself were often obliged to keep writing 
for our daily leg or shoulder of mutton, other- 
wise we should have had no dinner.' One of 
his friends to whom he confessed this, wittily 
replied, ' Then I perceive it was a joint con- 
cern. 9 " 

At the hazard of demolishing a story so 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 401 

facetious, we must take leave to assure the 
biographer, that wherever he picked up that 
Joe Miller, it can bear no reference to Mr. and 
Mrs. Sheridan. Highly gifted and accomplish- 
ed as was the latter, she never aspired to the 
honours of authorship ; and the very time 
fixed upon as the period of these obscure literary 
exertions was much passed by the young couple 
in different visits at the country houses of 
friends no less distinguished for virtue than for 
the high rank they held in society; — friends, 
who delighted in the extraordinary combination 
of merit and agreeable qualities that Richard 
Brinsley Sheridan and his beautiful wife dis- 
played ; but who would assuredly not have con- 
tinued to value him if he had been the cha- 
racter here represented ; providing, " by very 
equivocal means" for an inglorious existence. 

Before we dismiss the subject of music, it is 
with pain that justice compels the notice of 
another instance of misrepresentation. 

" Though he (R. B. Sheridan) continued to 
reject all the overtures that were made for the 

2 D 



402 MEMOIRS OF 

public appearanceof his wife, he readily suf- 
fered her to have private concerts, if they 
could properly be so denominated, by which it 
was probable more was obtained than could 
have been received in the display of her skill 
and melody in places of general admission. 

" Thus the same thing "was practised with a 
finer name ; for whatever distinction an air of 
fashion might have given to these concerts, the 
subscription by which they were supported was in 
reality the price given for an entertainment. 
The income thus obtained at London and 
Bath was very handsome. 5 ' — P. 196. 

In all and every particular of this statement 
the biographer was misinformed. Mr. and 
Mrs. Sheridan gave some private concerts at 
their house in Orchard-street, Portman-square, 
as a return for the civilities and hospitality they 
received from many persons of fashion and 
consequence. A music-room was accidentally 
annexed to their house, and it was the least ex- 
pensive entertainment they could give ; the 
performers consisting entirely of Mrs. Sheri- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 403 

dan's family. Never, surely could the lovers 
of music have received a more exquisite grati- 
fication than that which was afforded on these 
occasions by the combined talents of Mrs. 
Sheridan, her father, her sisters, Mary and 
Maria, and her brother, Thomas Linley. But 
these concerts were, as I have already said, 
given as the discharge of a debt of civility al- 
ready incurred. No money was ever received, 
nor were any such concerts given at Bath. 

Richard Brinsley Sheridan and his wife cer- 
tainly were in straitened circumstances, but he 
extricated himself by his own exertions. The 
comedy of " The Rivals," which met with great 
and deserved success, was succeeded by the 
opera of " The Duenna," which had a run never 
equalled in the annals of dramatic history but 
by that of the " Beggar's Opera." His profit was 
proportionably great, and the early display of 
such talent seemed to point out to him a never- 
failing resource. 

Yet while " The Duenna" was in rehearsal at 
Co vent Garden, Barry (then in his decline,) 

% D g 



404 MEMOIRS OF 

expressed to the elder Mr. Sheridan his opinion 
that it would not succeed ; and gave as his 
reason, " That there was too much church music 
in it ;" by which singular expression he meant 
the slow and solemn airs, " Oft does Hymen," 
" O had my love," " Gentle Maid," " What 
Bard, O Time," and others. 

The event shewed that Barry was no prophet ; 
and two years afterwards, " The School for 
Scandal" placed Mr. Sheridan at the summit of 
theatrical celebrity. On this Dr. Watkins ob- 
serves, some people were of opinion that the 
comedy "was not the performance of Sheridan ; 
by some it was attributed to tlie pen of Mrs. She- 
ridan. 99 — V. 218. 

With regard to Mrs. Sheridan's authorship, I 
have given a satisfactory answer in another place ; 
but here comes a more alarming accusation. 

" There were persons who roundly asserted 
that the play was written by a young lady, the 
daughter of a merchant in Thames Street ; that 
at the beginning of the season, when Mr Sheri- 
dan commenced his management, the MS. was 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 405 

put into his hands for his judgment ; soon after 
which the fair writer, who was then in a state of 
decline, went to Bristol Hot- wells, where she died. 

" Very observable it is, that notwithstanding 
the general circulation of a charge, which, if 
true, must materially injure the moral and 
literary reputation of Sheridan, he never took 
the pains of repelling it, or of establishing his 
right to the brightest performance that bears his 
name." — P. 221. He never took the pains of 
repelling a report that his play was written by a 
young lady ! The School for Scandal, by a 
young lady, the daughter of a merchant in Thames 
Street ! ! ! 

But lest it should be said that exclamation 
is not argument, and that one single fact is worth 
the most eloquent expressions of indignation, I 
will here briefly give the history of " The School 
for Scandal," upon the undoubted authority of 
the author's only surviving sister ; and thus 
oppose to the groundless calumny that clear refu- 
tation which Mr. Sheridan through his life dis- 
dained to give. 

£ d 3 



406 M EMOIES OF 

Early introduced into the world, and placed 
in difficult and critical situations, Mr. R. B. 
Sheridan often saw his own name the sport of 
calumny, which, although it sometimes excited a 
smile, yet often gave rise to more painful feel- 
ings. At Bath, then famous for the manufac- 
ture and circulation of ungrounded stories, his 
duels and other romantic adventures were mag- 
nified and misrepresented in a thousand different 
ways. When he was recovering of his wounds, 
it was one of his amusements to read the daily 
accounts of himself in the papers and say, " Let 
me see w T hat they report of me to-day ; I wish to 
know whether I am dead or alive," &c. (The 
ridiculous and contradictory reports then afloat, 
certainly gave rise to the highly humourous 
duel scenes in "The Rivals" and " The School for 
Scandal.") Other falsehoods sunk deeper into 
his heart ; and having a mind turned to reflec- 
tion, although his spirits were often led away by 
gaiety, the young poet conceived the noble plan 
of attacking the " Hydra, scandal, in his den," 
and exposing, in a spirited picture, the wide 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 407 

extended mischief that may ensue from the en- 
couragement of a censorious spirit. 

His sister, who was with him when these ideas 
were first working in his mind, had the opportu- 
nity of watching his thoughts as they arose, 
while yet they were 

" Like diamonds in their infant dew." 

His biographer says, — 

" The moral tendency of " The School for 
Scandal," is the part upon which its greatest ad- 
mirers will find it difficult to say any thing con- 
clusive or satisfactory." 

Certainly, those who seek for morality in the 
character of Charles Surface, will be disappoint- 
ed, but if they look for the moral tendency of 
" The School for Scandal" in the proper place, it 
will be found to be excellent. In Mr. Sheridan's 
play the faulty character of the piece is one 
common to the drama, though rendered partly 
original by the spirit, generosity and feeling, 
which the writer added from himself. The 
moral portion, on the contrary, is his own, and 
2 D 4 



408 MEMOIRS OF 

is conceived in a manner equally just, pointed, 
and forcible. It consists in a lively exposure 
of the effects of a baneful propensity, in which 
many scruple not to indulge, who would shrink 
from the imputation of any other failing, — a 
propensity to slander and detraction. It points 
out to decided, though not to equal abhorrence, 
the dark and insidious plotter against reputa- 
tion, the feeble and deceitful defender, the bitter 
and malignant censurer, and the good-humoured 
but thoughtless retailer of the envenomed lie. 
These are chastised, perhaps reformed, by the 
characters of Lady Sneerwell, Mrs. Candour, 
Sir Benjamin Backbite, and Lady Teazle ; and 
are taught to fear at least the shafts of ridicule, 
when to their hardened minds the moralist or 
the preacher might address themselves in vain. 

For what I have further to say upon the sub- 
ject I shall avail myself of his sister's * own 
words, without whose sanction my remarks 
could have no authority ; and as the suspicions 
thrown out about " The School for Scandal" 

* Mrs. Lefanu. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 409 

have perhaps had some effect, it is trusted 
the answer will be read with candour and at- 
tention. 

" The whole story of the supposed manner in 
which the play of The School for Scandal came 
into Mr. Sheridan's hands is perfectly ground- 
less, the writer of these lines having frequently 
heard him speak on the subject long before the 
play appeared ; many of the characters and in- 
cidents related to persons known to them both, 
and were laughingly talked over with his family." 

It is particularly remembered that, in the first 
sketch, the character which now bears the name 
of Mrs. Candour, went by that of Lady Kitty 
Candour : a title which, I presume, Mr. She- 
ridan abandoned on account of its too great 
resemblance to one in a dramatic piece of Foote's 
— Lady Kitty Crocodile ; which was supposed 
to be meant for the Duchess of Kingston. Be- 
fore he put pen to paper, the fable, as perfectly 
conceived and matured in his mind, was com- 
municated to his friends ; and the expression he 
made use of, described at once the completeness 



410 MEMOIRS OF 

and unity of his plan. — " The comedy is finish- 
ed ; / have now nothing to do but to write it." 
This mode of composition is probably the only 
one in which the author can hope to give to his 
works the impression of energy and correctness. 

The biographer continues : 

" It certainly is not a little extraordinary, that 
while the other dramatic pieces of Mr. Sheridan 
have been committed to the press by his autho- 
rity, and for his emolument, that which exceeds 
them all, and has brought most honour to his 
name, still remains unpublished," &c. — P. 218. 

" When such stories were afloat, the obvious 
course pointed out by prudence and justice, was 
that of publishing the play." — P. 220. 

" This was not done, and the seclusion of the 
piece within the walls of the theatre, together 
with a total forbearance of all explanation on 
the part of the manager, served to strengthen 
the suspicion that, however embellished the tale 
might be, it was not altogether fiction." — P. 221. 

In making these remarks, the biographer 
seems to have forgot the nature of theatrical 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 411 

literary property, or he would have perceived 
it was not at all extraordinary that the " School 
for Scandal " should not have been published 
till the period of literary property was ex- 
pired. It was not published, because Mr. 
Sheridan chose to confine the performance 
of the play in London to his own theatre. 
Once a play is printed, such a monopoly can 
no longer be enjoyed. If he therefore wished 
to profit by the fruits of his own labours, 
it was by no means to be expected of " Pru- 
dence," that she should point it out as his 
obvious course to print his play, and thereby 
give Mr. Harris, of Covent Garden, an equal 
right to have it performed at his theatre.* "The 
Duenna," on the contrary, was not printed 

* When the lapse of time gave to Covent Garden and 
other theatres the right of representing " The School for 
Scandal," Mr. Sheridan had thoughts of publishing it along 
with his other plays, to which he meant to have prefixed pre- 
faces: and it is certainly to be regretted that his various 
avocations prevented the execution of this plan, which would 
probably have presented the public with a valuable body of 
dramatic criticism. 



412 MEMOIRS OF 

because the copyright was disposed of to Mr. 
Harris at the time it appeared. The Comedy 
of " The Rivals," was published during the run 
of the play. As Dr. Watkins is very fond of 
quoting the opinion of Dr. Johnson, whenever 
his opinion is inimical to the Sheridan family, 
we beg leave to remind him that Johnson, in 
recommending R. B. Sheridan for a member of 
the Literary Club, mentioned him particularly 
as the author of the best modern Comedy ; 
without deigning to make the least reference to 
the absurd and ridiculous calumnies said to be 
even then already in circulation. 

That Mr. Sheridan should have stopped just 
as his muse gave so rich a promise, must have 
been regretted by many, as well as by the noble 
bard who so elegantly eulogized his memory, 
and who thus apostrophized him while living ; 

" Oh, Sheridan ! if aught can move thy pen, 
Let Comedy resume her throne again ; 
Give, as thy last memorial to the age, 
One classic drama, and reform the stage 

But, from a different cause, complete success 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 413 

sometimes produces the same effect as discou- 
ragement, in preventing an author from ven- 
turing again. Mrs. Inchbald, in her " Re- 
marks " upon the different reception of Gay's 
" Beggars' Opera," and " Polly," observes, that 
an unsuccessful author ought to continue to 
write, and may perhaps write himself into repu- 
tation ; but, that a perfectly successful one had 
better lay down his pen, lest a sudden blight 
should fall upon his laurels. It may be further 
observed, that from this time forward, Mr. 
Sheridan was thrown into the busy vortex of 
public life, and engaged in a distracting multi- 
plicity of affairs, such as has perhaps seldom 
fallen to the lot of one individual. The time 
necessary for polishing and bringing works of 
fancy to perfection was absolutely denied him : 
and a laudable jealousy of his literary reputation 
may be allowed in the man, who, not long after 
his death, was concisely, but aptly charac- 
terized by an eminent living tragedian, as having 
" written the best comedy that ever was acted, 



414 MEMOIRS OF 

and spoken the best speech that ever was 
spoken." 

Before I dismiss the subject of the drama, I 
must notice the biographer's conjecture : 

" When it is considered Mr. Wallis was the 
confidential agent of Mr. Garrick, and that Mr. 
Ford stood on terms of the greatest intimacy 
with him, some foundation is afforded to sub- 
stantiate what was said at the time, that Mr. 
Sheridan was indebted to the generosity of his 
friend and predecessor, Garrick, for the interest 
which he obtained in the concern of Drury 
Lane. 5 ' &c. To which it is only necessary to 
answer, that there is no foundation for the asser- 
tion. Neither Mr. Sheridan nor his father ever 
had the least pecuniary obligation to Garrick 
whatsoever. 

Equally erroneous are the statements respect- 
ing the Linley family. 

" In quick succession she (Mrs. Sheridan) lost 
two accomplished brothers." — P. 316. 

Further on, it is said : 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 415 

" Thomas, the celebrated composer and per- 
former on the violin, was carried off in a few 
days hy a raging fever. Another fine youth, 
named Samuel, was accidentally drowned in a 
pond. Maria, who had been the delight of the 
lovers of harmony by her extraordinary vocal 
powers, expired at the harpsichord, while singing 
the praises of her Redeemer. 

"The remembrance of his unmarried daughter 
(Maria), whose musical talents were the theme 
of universal admiration, never failed (with Mr. 
Linley) to open the bleeding wounds inflicted 
hy the awful manner of her dissolution." 

" Mr. Linley, in fact, never recovered from 
the effects of this last heavy blow (the death of 
Mrs. Sheridan) ; which hurried him to the 
grave, leaving a widow and one son to lament," 
&c. — Memoirs of the public and private Life of 
the Rt. Hon. R. B. Sheridan. 

Iu these three paragraphs there are four mis- 
statements. It was Mr. Thomas Linley, Mrs. 
Sheridan's eldest brother (and not Samuel, as 
stated in the " Memoirs"') who was unfortu- 



416 



MEMOIRS OF 



nately drowned, while amusing himself in a 
pleasure boat, at the seat of the Duke of An- 
caster, in the year 1778- He was one year 
younger than Mrs. Sheridan (not seven years, as 
stated in the Memoirs, P. 128). Mr. Thomas 
Linley was a young man of great merit, and 
uncommon musical abilities. A Jew years after- 
wards, his younger brother, Samuel, a lieute- 
nant in the navy, was cut off by a fever. In 
the year 1785, Miss Maria Linley died at Bath, 
of a fever. So that it appears, between the 
death of Thomas and Maria Linley, there was 
an interval of seven years ; a space of time which 
hardly justifies the expression in the "Memoirs," 
(P. 316) that Mrs. Sheridan had " scarcely 
poured forth her sorrows" over the untimely 
graves of her brothers, " before she was called 
upon to lament the death of her favourite sister, 
who expired at Bath on the fifth of September 
1784, while singing Handel's exquisite and 
soul-enlivening anthem, ' I know that my Re- 
deemer liveth/ " 

The extraordinary story of Miss Maria Lin- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 417 

ley's " expiring at the harpsichord," is not cor- 
rect. She died, as has been already stated, of a 
fever ; and was attended by Dr. Harrington, a 
gentleman no less celebrated for his medical skill 
than for his musical abilities. A little time pre- 
vious to her death, when confined to her bed, 
she raised herself up, and with unexpected and 
momentary animation sung a part of the anthem, 
" I know that my Redeemer liveth." The 
female attendant, who related the scene to Mrs. 
H. Lefanu (the mother of the writer), described 
it as the most affecting she had ever witnessed. 
The pathetic, and almost super-human sweetness 
of the notes breathed by the young and lovely 
creature, who was just departing from them, 
and the awful hope inculcated in the words of 
the air she had chosen, contributed to give an 
appearance of inspiration to this last effort of 
a voice that had delighted every ear. Dr. Har- 
rington was greatly overcome by the scene, and 
could only exclaim, " She is an angel !" as he 
left the room. Exhausted by the effort, she 

2 E 



418 MEMOIRS OF 

sunk into the arms of her attendant, and shortly 
afterwards breathed her last. 

In the year 1787, Mrs. Sheridan experienced 
a still greater affliction in the death of Mrs. 
Tickell, the sister nearest to her in age, and the 
chosen friend of her heart. 

The mention of Mrs. Tickell naturally leads 
to the notice of a ludicrous mistake, though 
one of small importance, that occurs in Dr. 
Watkins's " Memoirs," on the subject of Mr. 
TickelPs second marriage. 

" Not long after the death of his first wife, 
Mr. Tickell married Miss Leigh, who is mentioned 
so respectfully in the preceding letter, and who 
deserved his esteem by her accomplishments and 
virtues. She was the daughter of a Commander 
in the Marine Service of the East-India Com- 
pany." 

Here two very different ladies are manifestly 
blended into one : for the lady " so respectfully 
mentioned in the letter," was Miss Sophia Lee, 
of Belvedere House, Bath, author of " Canter- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 419 

bury Tales," &c. under whose care Miss Tickell 
was placed, and who never was married. The 
beautiful Miss Leigh, whom Mr. Tickell took 
for his second wife, as the reader will observe, 
spelt her name differently. 

The statement respecting Mr. Linley's sur- 
viving family is not more correct than the pre- 
ceding one. He left three children ; two sons, 
William Linley, Esq., the Rev. Ozias Linley, 
and a daughter, Jane, afterwards married to the 
late Charles Ward, Esq., Secretary to the Com- 
mittee of Management of the Theatre Royal 
Drury Lane. 

The following mis-statement, however, is an 
error of greater magnitude ; and as it materially 
affects the late Rt. Hon. R. B. Sheridan, the 
writer will be excused for dwelling more at 
length upon it, than on the preceding. It 
relates to the death of the first Mrs. Sheridan, 
at Bristol. 

" One morning, when Mrs. Sheridan was 
about to take an airing on the neighbouring 
downs, she found that the carriage and horses 
2 e 2 



420 MEMOIRS OF 

had just been taken in execution by an unfeel- 
ing creditor. It may naturally be supposed that 
a shock so sudden and rude would operate 
with deadly effect upon a frame already en- 
feebled beyond the power of recovery, and 
hanging as it were by an imperceptible thread 
over the margin of the grave. The stroke, in- 
deed, acted with similar violence to the wintry 
blast upon a tender plant; for the sufferer, 
bending before it, burst into tears, and retired 
into her chamber, out of which she never came 
again till the lifeless form was conveyed to the 
silent mansion, " where the wicked cease from 
troubling, and where the weary are at rest." — 
{Memoirs of the Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan.) 

It is not clear who is meant by the con- 
cluding quotation in the text, but the bio- 
grapher may rest assured, that, through what- 
ever channel he obtained the anecdote of the 
carriage being stopped, it is quite an invention. 
Had such a circumstance taken place, Mrs. 
Sheridan was surrounded by tender and watch- 
ful friends, who never would have exposed her 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 421 

to the chance of such a shock. The fact was, 
she was with great difficulty conveyed to Bristol, 
and never regained strength to bear the motion 
of a carriage. She ventured a few times to 
the Wells in a sedan chair, her husband walk- 
ing beside her. Indeed, the affection and so- 
licitude he shewed during the whole time of 
her illness, was such as could not be surpassed. 

A lady of the highest respectability, whose 
friendship for Richard Brinsley Sheridan and his 
wife was of twenty years' standing, and who was 
with Mr. and Mrs. Sheridan at the time of her 
decease, thus wrote to Mrs. H. Lefanu, who was 
in Ireland, and most anxious to know every 
particular respecting a friend so dear. 

" The truth is, our poor friend 

is in a most precarious state of health, and 
quite given over by the faculty. Her physi- 
cian here, who is esteemed very skilful in 
consumptive cases, assured me from the first 
it was a lost case ; but as your brother seemed 
unwilling to know the truth, he was not so 
explicit to him, and only represented her as 
2 e 3 



422 MEMOIRS OF 

being in a very critical situation. Poor man ! 
he cannot bear to think her in danger him- 
self, or that any one else should, though he 
is as attentive and watchful as if he expected 
every moment to be her last. It is impossible 
for any man to behave with greater tender- 
ness, or to feel more on such an occasion than 
he does." 

If these expressions do not contradict the 
charge of thoughtless unkindness on Mr. Sheri- 
dan's part, which must be inferred from the 
anecdote in the text, I know of none sufficiently 
strong to answer that purpose. The description 
of Mrs. Sheridan's death-bed scene is still more 
striking. 

" Our dear departed friend kept her bed only 
two days, and seemed to suffer less during that 
interval than for some time before. She was 
perfectly in her senses to the last moment, and 
talked with the greatest composure of her ap- 
proaching dissolution, assuring us all that she 
had the most perfect confidence in the mercies 
of an All-powerful and merciful Being, from 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 428 

whom alone she could have derived the inward 
comfort and support she felt at that awful 
moment. She said she had no fear of death, 
and that all her concern arose from the thoughts 
of leaving so many dear and tender ties, and of 
what they would suffer for her loss ! — Her own 
family were at Bath, and had spent one day 
with her when she was tolerably well. Your 
poor brother now thought it proper to send for 
them, and to flatter them no longer. They im- 
mediately came : it was the morning before she 
died. They were introduced one at a time, at 
her bed-side, and were prepared as much as 
possible for this sad scene. All our feelings 
were awakened for her poor father : the inter- 
view between him and the dear angel was affect- 
ing and heartbreaking to the greatest degree 
imaginable. 1 was afraid she would have sunk 
under the cruel agitation : she said it was in- 
deed too much for her. 

" She gave some kind injunctions to each of 
them, and said every thing she could to comfort 
them under this severe trial. They then parted, 
2 e 4 



424 MEMOIRS OF 

in the hope of seeing her again in the evening ; 
but they never saw her more ! Mr. Sheridan 
and I sat up all that night with her. Indeed, 
he had done so for several before, and never 
left her for one moment that could be avoided. 
About four o'clock in the morning we per- 
ceived an alarming change, and sent for her 
physician. She said to him, * If you can re- 
lieve me, do it quickly ; if not, do not let me 
struggle, but give me some laudanum.' His 
answer was ' Then I will give some laudanum.' 
She desired to see Tom* and Betty Tickellt 
before she took it, of whom she took a most 
affecting leave. Your brother behaved most 
wonderfully, though his heart was breaking, 
and at times his feelings were so violent, that I 

* Her son the late Thomas Sheridan. 
: f Miss Elizabeth Tickell, daughter of Richard Tickell, 
Esq., and Mrs. Sheridan's beloved sister, Mary Tickell. 
After Mrs. Tickell's death, Mrs. Sheridan had, with her hus- 
band's approbation, taken entire charge of her niece, whom 
she adopted, and who, after the death of that affectionate 
relation, was placed by Mr. Sheridan at Miss Lee's Seminary, 
in Bath. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 425 

feared he would have been quite ungovernable 
at the last; yet he summoned up resolution to 
kneel by her bed-side, until he felt the last 
struggle of expiring excellence, and then gently 
withdrew. 

" She died at five o'clock in the morning, 
28th of June 1792." 

A few days after the funeral, Mr. Sheridan 
removed to a house he had at Isleworth, where 
he remained, " with no other companions but 
his two children," in whom his heart was at 
that time entirely wrapped up. The little girl 
whom Mrs. Sheridan had left in infancy, was 
represented by all who saw her to have pos- 
sessed a surprising degree of beauty : she was 
in fact the miniature of her mother ; but, as 
might be expected under the circumstances of 
her birth, small and delicate, and giving very 
little expectation of long life. This uncommon 
resemblance to her mother endeared the infant 
beyond expression to her afflicted parent, who 
could not bear her a moment out of his sight. 
He was dreadfully agitated on his arrival at 



426 MEMOIRS OF 

Isleworth, and though he constrained himself to 
appear cheerful in the presence of others, all 
his solitary hours were given up to the anguish 
of sorrow and regret ; still, for the sake of his 
son Thomas, who behaved to his father with 
constant and tender attention, but whose young 
mind required a change from the constant con- 
templation of melancholy objects, Mr. Sheridan 
resolved to make an effort, and in the beginning 
of August after his irreparable loss, he enter- 
tained a few intimate friends on a visit of a week 
at Isleworth. The following is a description of 
his deportment. 

" We never saw him do the honour of his 
house before ; that, you know, he always left to 
that dear, elegant creature, who never failed to 
please and charm every one who ever came 
within the sphere of her notice. Nobody could 
have filled her place so well ; he seemed to have 
pleasure in making much of those whom she 
loved, and who, he knew, sincerely loved her. 
We all thought he never appeared to so much 
advantage. He was attentive to every body 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 427 

and every thing, though grave and thoughtful ; 
and his feelings, poor fellow, often ready to 
break forth in spite of his efforts to suppress 
them. He spent his evenings mostly by him- 
self/' 

Towards the end of October Mr. Sheridan 
took a house at Wanstead. He had his son 
Thomas there with his tutor, Mr. Smyth, and 
had removed his nursery to it about a year, 
when, at a little evening entertainment, given 
chiefly to the young friends of his son, his feel- 
ings were destined to be shocked by the most 
dreadful domestic misfortune that could befal 
him, — the death of his infant daughter Mary, of 
which the following is a circumstantial account. 

" My dear Mrs. Lefanu, 

" I fear you will reproach me for not 
having sooner informed you of your poor bro- 
ther's having lost his dear little girl. She was 
suddenly snatched from us in convulsions, after 
a few hours' illness. The circumstances attend- 



428 MEMOIRS OF 

ing this melancholy event were particularly dis- 
tressing : a large party of young people were 
assembled at your brother's, to spend a joyous 
evening in dancing : we were all in the height 
of our merriment ; he himself remarkably cheer- 
ful, and partaking of the amusement, when the 
alarm was given that the dear little angel was 
dying ! It is impossible to describe the confu- 
sion and horror of the scene. He was quite 
frantic, and I knew not what to do. Happily 
there were present several kind, good natured 
men, who had their recollection, and pointed 
out what should be done ; Mr. Morris was pre- 
sent, and made himself very useful.* We 
very soon had every possible assistance, and for 
a short time we had some hope that her precious 
life would have been spared to us, but that was 
soon at an end." 

* The late Edward Morris, Esq. M.P., youngest son of the 
late Dr. Morris, and brother of Charles Morris, Esq., of 
Southampton, and of George Paulet Morris, M.D. The late 
Edward Morris, Esq. died a Master in Chancery. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 429 

After a detailed account of the illness and 
death of the infant, the amiable writer continues : 

" The dear babe's resemblance to her beloved 
mother after her death, was so much more 
striking that it was impossible to see her without 
recalling every circumstance of that afflicting 
scene ; and he (Mr. Sheridan) was continually 
in the room > indulging the sad remembrance. 
In this manner he indulged his feelings for four 
or five days ; then, having indispensable busi- 
ness, he was obliged to go to London, from 
whence he returned on Sunday, apparently in 
good spirits, and as well as usual. But how- 
ever he may assume the appearance of ease and 
cheerfulness, his heart is not of a nature to be 
quickly reconciled to the loss of any thing he 
loves. He suffers deeply and secretly, and I 
dare say he will long and bitterly lament both 
mother and child." 

These few extracts may prove interesting, as 
putting the character of the late Richard Brinsley 
Sheridan in a new and just point of view. It 
remains now only to notice a few particulars 



430 MEMOIRS OF 

erroneously stated in his biography, relative to 
his elder brother the late Mr. Charles Francis 
Sheridan, p. 463. He is said to have been 
" in principle quite the reverse of his brother, 
who never lived with him on good terms." 

This is not correct. Mr. Charles Francis 
Sheridan was by no means the reverse of his 
brother in political principles, though from his 
early connexions he generally acted with go- 
vernment. Neither is it at all true that the 
brothers were not on good terms ; as it was 
during the short-lived Rockingham Adminis- 
tration, in which Richard Brinsley Sheridan 
was under Secretary of State, that he obtained 
for his brother the place of Secretary at War, 
(not under Secretary of State for the War 
department, as mentioned by Dr. Watkins,) in 
Ireland. The residence of the brothers in dif- 
ferent kingdoms prevented their intercourse 
from being frequent ; but when Mr. Charles 
Francis Sheridan visited England, a short time 
before his death, the intercourse between him 
and his brother was perfectly friendly and cor- 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 431 

dial. Their opinions in many points coincided ; 
for the talents of Charles Francis Sheridan were 
great as well as those of his brother. He was 
originally intended for the diplomatic line, in 
which it w r as a pity he did not continue, as no 
man was more formed by nature and education 
for success in it; possessing as he did the French 
language, (the universal language of courts,) in 
its utmost elegance and perfection, to which he 
joined an engaging suavity of manners, totally 
divested of the usual self-importance of office. 
On his return from Sweden, where at the early 
age of twenty he enjoyed the confidential 
situation of Secretary to the British Embassy, 
Mr. Charles Francis Sheridan wrote an account 
of the celebrated revolution, for which he was 
furnished with the most ample and valuable 
materials by the Ambassador, Sir John Good- 
ricke himself. Of the eagerness with which 
this work was received, Boswell gives the 
following amusing account. "At Mr. Dilly's 
to-day, were Mrs. Knowles, (the ingenious qua- 



432 MEMOIRS OF 

kerlady,) Miss Seward, the Rev. Dr. Mayo, and 
the Rev. Mr. Beresford. Before dinner Dr. 
Johnson seized upon Mr. Charles Sheridan's 
* Account of the late Revolution in Sweden/ 
and seemed to read it ravenously, as if he 
devoured it, which was to all appearance his 
method of studying. * He knows how to read 
better than any one,' said Mrs. Knowles ; ' he 
gets at the substance of a book directly ; he 
tears out the heart of it.' He kept it wrapt up 
in the tablecloth in his lap during the time of 
dinner, from an avidity to have one entertain- 
ment in readiness when he should have finished 
another : resembling (if I may use so coarse a 
simile) a dog who holds a bone in his paws in 
reserve, while he eats something else which has 
been thrown to him." 

After his return from Sweden, Mr. Charles 
Francis Sheridan was entered a student at the 
Temple, and was called to the Bar in Ireland 
about the year 1779. A violent fever that 
endangered his life, and left great remains of 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 433 

weakness, induced him to give up the active 
part of the profession; and he studied that 
branch of the law called special pleading. His 
appointment of Secretary at War in Ireland, 
obliged him to give up this respectable and lu- 
crative branch of the law, Charles Francis 
Sheridan was member of Parliament for the 
borough of Belturbet, county of Cavan ; and 
(from his office) a Privy Counsellor. Besides 
the History of the Revolution of Sweden, he 
Was the author of a very celebrated tract upon 
Poyning's Law, and of several other valuable 
legal pamphlets. At his death he left a widow 
very amply provided for, three daughters, and 
two sons. In the Memoirs of the Right 
Honourable Richard Brinsley Sheridan it is 
erroneously stated that they both " died in 
the East, where they filled situations of trust," 
&c.-— P. 463. Charles, the eldest, held a place 
under government in Ireland, and died in that 
country a few years after his father. Thomas, 
the youngest son, was sent to India as a writer ; 
he was a young man of merit in every respect, 

2 F 



434 MEMOIRS OF 

and high in the esteem of his superiors, when he 
was carried off by a fever at Shiraz, in Persia, a 
short time after his going abroad. 

Richard, the son of the elder Mr. T. Sheri- 
dan's brother, a barrister of high reputation, and 
King's counsel, represented the borough of 
Charlemont, in Ireland, having been called to 
that situation of trust by the late excellent Earl 
of Charlemont, solely in consequence of the 
high esteem that nobleman entertained for his 
character.* 

With respect to the elucidations in justifica- 
tion of certain passages of the late Richard 
Rrinsley Sheridan's private life, I do not pretend 
to give any thing from myself, but write them 
as furnished to me from documents of the 
highest authority and respectability. They will 
not be deemed impertinent or misplaced, when 
his near relationship is considered to the amiable 
woman whose life forms the chief subject of 
these Memoirs : a woman whose time was 
devoted to the duties of domestic life, and the 

* See Hardy's Life of Lord Charlemont, Vol. ii. p. 318. 



MRS. FRANCES SHERIDAN. 435 

education of her children ; a mother, whose 
distinguished talents and fond endearments 
were remembered and regretted by Mr. Sheri- 
dan, even in the meridian of his own fame and 
distinction ; and who, could she look down from 
the place which we humbly trust her well-spent 
life must assign her, could not be supposed to 
consider the highest worldly success as a 
compensation for her son's having deservedly 
incurred the charge of neglecting every virtue. 



THE END. 



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